Arduous legal proceedings, father’s cancer, a dog that gave hope, and a grand welcome home — 23-year-old Sakshi Gupta has seen incredible highs and lows over the past year and a half. The Ranchi-based fashion designer made news earlier this week when videos emerged of her father picking her up from her in-laws’ residence and taking her back home, accompanied by a band-baaja-baraat traditionally reserved for big fat Indian weddings.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sakshi said: “Sometimes I would wonder if it was better to die. But my family gave me hope, and my dog, Bella, who is like a child to me, gave me purpose.”
It was in April last year that Sakshi married a state government employee. Soon after, though, the couple had marital discord — while her husband filed a case alleging mental harassment, she moved for divorce and filed a domestic violence case.
Sakshi Gupta, a Ranchi-based fashion designer, made news when videos emerged of her father picking her up from her in-laws’ residence, accompanied by a band-baaja-baraat traditionally reserved for big fat Indian weddings
Abhishek Angad reports: https://t.co/L5cXET7rKc pic.twitter.com/4xGCQlKVxB
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) October 23, 2023
“We spent lakhs on her wedding and sent her off to her new family. It seems it was my fault in not assessing the situation correctly. I realised she has to be given the same welcome when she returns home, and that is why I went to her in-laws’ house (with the band),” said her father Prem Gupta, who recently got surgery for cancer.
According to him, as things turned sour, Sakshi returned home. “But as legal proceedings stretched on, she returned to her in-laws’ residence on her first wedding anniversary and asserted that she had the right to stay there. Later, since she felt lonely, I gave her a dog,” he said.
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The dog, a Shuh Tzu named Bella, became Sakshi’s life. “Bella used to wipe my tears, hug me. Now I feel like Bella is my child… it understood what I was going through. As much as my parents supported me, there are moments when you can’t burden them with all kinds of information. That was when Bella became my backbone,” said Sakshi.
“A month and a half ago, my husband and I decided that we will both withdraw from our cases and go for a mutual divorce. The process will begin by November-December,” she said.
She now plans to complete her fashion designing course and start work. “There are so many things life teaches you, and after I came home, I went for a religious tour to Rajasthan and Mathura. I feel thankful now,” she said.
