For most of us, love is supposed to feel like home. A place that makes us feel secure, seen and adored. But for some, who grew up in difficult environments, the search for this ‘home’ can become desperate. For 24-year-old Suhirtha, after a long search she thought she had finally found it in a person. Amid the late-night calls and future promises, she believed life was finally getting better. However, sometimes the plot twist finds you, not the other way around. And this twist flipped her world upside down.
The story began in 2025. Suhirtha met a man named Nitish online. The two quickly became friends. Casual talks developed into a very deep bond over time. Recalling the start of their relationship, she says, “I connected with Nitish online in 2025. When we met, we instantly clicked over our shared love for poetry and science. One convo slowly turned into late-night calls, bus rides to Chennai, and a kind of love I had never experienced before.”
For Suhirtha, the relationship held more meaning because of the life she had earlier. “I come from an orphanage. My adopted parents were fighting for divorce. It was emotionally exhausting for me. I left home at 20 and spent my whole life searching for a safe space,” she shares. She described Nitish as someone who gave her comfort in ways she had long searched for. "Nitish became exactly that- gentle, patient, and kind in ways that made me believe I had finally found home in another person.
Suhirtha says she fell deeply in love, and believed she had found stability and emotional security. But within a short span of time, life took a wrong turn. A month ago, Suhirtha discovered that she was pregnant.
The news left both of them worried and uncertain. According to her, they decided to abort the child. "We panicked and mutually decided to terminate it. Without consulting a doctor, I took a self-prescribed tablet. When I experienced spotting and cramps afterwards, I genuinely believed the abortion had worked, " she says.
At the same time, the couple decided to get married. However, it wasn’t without complications as they came from different religious backgrounds. "I’m Christian, he’s Hindu, and his orthodox family strongly opposed our relationship." Still, she says Nitish reassured her. "Nitish promised me, ‘I’ll fight for you.’ So, we had an intimate Christian wedding ceremony.” But what she believed would be the beginning of a new chapter soon turned into something entirely different. “The next morning (22 April), Nitish kissed me goodbye before leaving for work, and I genuinely believed I was entering a safe and loving marriage.” Suhirtha claims later that day, his friends barged into the apartment and started accusing her of cheating and saying she should leave him.
“I was shocked because none of it was true. But instead of protecting me, Nitish took me to his friend’s place saying it's just for a night. It felt intentional. There were no neighbors, no safety, nobody to help me,” she says.
What hurt her most, was not only the humiliation but the silence of the person she trusted the most. “They asked how many men did you sleep with? and the whole time, Nitish just stood in the living room… silently watching,” she says. She continues, “The same man who told me ‘I’ll fight for you’ didn’t say a word when his friends threw me out of the house in the middle of the night. I had nowhere to go.” According to Suhirtha, something inside her died that day. Not just the trust in him, but her understanding of what love was supposed to feel like.
Suddenly alone and without any support, she found herself dealing not only with emotional shock but also physical distress. Hours later, when her health deteriorated, she somehow reached a hospital. There, doctors told her something she never expected to hear. "And that’s when a doctor looked at me and said the words that changed my life forever- you’re pregnant.” The news came as a complete shock. “I cried loudly in that room. I broke down. I kept my hands on my stomach and cried,” she says.
But despite everything that had happened, she says that moment changed something within her. "My dream was always to become a mother someday. What happened to me does not make me an unfit mother. If anything, it made me more determined. I decided to keep the baby.” Speaking about a dream she once had, she says she had already imagined her future long before. “I dreamt about children, a peaceful home, and even a small bakery of my own. I wanted an ordinary, happy life. After everything collapsed, I realized the dream was not the problem, the wrong man was.”
Speaking about whether she was scared of societal judgment after deciding to keep the child, she says, “Yes, I was terrified because what if they pass these judgments on to my baby. I received threats from his family asking me to abort my baby. At one point, even the neighbors in the apartment asked me to vacate the house. I was called names too.” “But I don’t think there is any shame in raising a child alone. The shame belongs to people who abandoned responsibility, enabled abuse, and tried to break a pregnant woman emotionally.”
Today, at 24, she says she is on her own. Balancing a full-time job, pursuing her postgraduate (PG) studies online, and preparing to become a mother. The road ahead is not easy. She admits there are moments when things feel overwhelming. “There are days when I feel like giving up, but knowing my baby deserves better, that’s what keeps me going.”
Sometimes, life does not unfold the way people imagine it will. Promises can break, people can change, and the future can become uncertain overnight. But amid heartbreak and unexpected turns, some people discover a strength they did not know they had. For this young woman, that strength now seems to come from a small heartbeat she once did not even know existed.
Images Courtesy: Suhirtha
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