"I cannot explain how I handled it for 10 years, but somehow I did it," said 34-year-old Rahman of Ayiloor village in Palakkad district, as he opened up to reporters on how he hid a woman he was in a relationship with, inside a small room in his house, supposedly without his family's knowledge, for a decade.
Rahman and the woman who stayed in the room with him for 10 years, Sajitha, say they had been in a relationship, but feared opposition from their respective parents. Three months ago, in March, they left Rahman’s family’s home, and rented a house in Vithanassery village in Palakkad. When Rahman left, his family filed a missing persons complaint. But on June 8, Rahman's brother spotted him near Nenmara, and with the help of the police, confronted Rahman. That is when the shocking story of the couple was revealed.
A decade ago, Sajitha was 18, and Rahman, 24; and the couple had been in a relationship for two years. "One day she told me she can't stay at her home anymore. I had no other option, so I asked her to come with me. I was expecting some money, so I thought I would go with her and live somewhere else. But the money got delayed, and when I got it, my family took it away. So, we were stuck," Rahman says. It is not clear how Rahman got Sajitha into the house and she stayed confined in a small room for years without anyone in Rahman’s family knowing. However, as per the couple’s claim, for 10 years, Sajitha stayed inside a small room of a tile-roofed house for 10 years.
Sajitha’s parents who lived a few metres away, reportedly didn’t have an inkling of Sajitha’s whereabouts, and neither did Rahman’s parents and sister, who were also living in the same house as the couple. Sajitha's parents had even filed a missing complaint in 2010, and the police had questioned many, including Rahman, then. However, Rahman and Sajitha’s arrangement was not discovered.
According to his family, Rahman, an electrician by profession, arranged a special lock system for his room. He also reportedly laid some electric wires outside the door and asked his family members not to touch them. His family, meanwhile, attributed his secrecy and eccentric behaviour to mental health issues.
However, Rahman has denied the family’s allegation that he had electrified the door to his room. “I did not do that. The police went there and checked, and they couldn’t find anything because I did not do anything of that kind,” Rahman told the media.
Watch the couple's interview:
The tiny room had one window and Rahman had ensured that the wooden bars could be removed when needed. According to the police, Sajitha would only go out at night to use the toilet; she would remove the bars and jump out of the window to go to the bathroom outside the house. If she fell sick, Rahman would bring the medicines. "I had installed a TV inside the room. I would take food to the room for us to eat together," Rahman said.
The situation became tricky when COVID-19 struck, and Rahman was not able to go to work. As a result, he could not contribute monetarily to the household, which caused the discord that ultimately led him to leave in March 2021. "Since my income stopped, my family was not happy with me eating there. They would just give me plain rice. So we faced difficulty with food," said Rahman.
Sajitha also told the media that they had to stay like that because of their situation. "He gave me half of the food he got. He took care of me very well. But it was difficult to stay in a room. During the day, I used to watch TV using a headset and walk around in the room.” She added, “When no one was there, I used to come out of the room at times. At night, I used to go out and walk, but not during daytime. I did not fall sick except for some headaches.” She also noted that she has missed two weddings that have happened at her natal home in the last decade.
The couple said that they are now relieved that they don't have to hide anymore. The police have also closed both the missing persons cases. Though there are several unanswered questions about this strange story, starting from how the family could have not known about Sajitha’s presence in such a small space to why Rahman and Sajitha waited for so long to live openly, Rahman has requested the public not to harass them. They want to be left in peace, he has said.