AIZAWL, April 17 - Not all women are gold diggers. A woman in Mizoram has shown the world that marriage is still about love. For what else would she tie the knot with an unwealthy wheelchair-bound man?
The story of Emmanuel V Lalhruaizela confined to wheelchair since childhood, and a beautiful woman Zobiakremi Pautu, walking down the aisle at a Baptist church at West Saizawh village in Lunglei district on April 16 took the internet by storm in Mizoram.
The couple met via social media in 2014. They started off as friends. This friendship gradually turned into love, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Emmanuel, who has a passion for writing, published his first book �Hrignun Hling Bawm� in 2017. Zobiakremi helped him in promotion and distribution of the book.
�When I finally visited his village and met him in March 2018, his stoicism, strong determination and positivism touched my heart so much that I not only felt pity for him, but loved him too. I no longer saw him as a physically-challenged friend, but a patient who desperately needs my care. It was this moment when sympathy turned into love. I kept asking myself, �If I don�t marry him, who else would?� Then, I made one of the most important decisions in my life,� Zobiakremi said.
The 27-year-old groom is the youngest of four children of VL Piangenga and Tuahpuii. Two of his siblings have died. He and his elder brother are confined to wheelchair due to congenital defect. He studied till standard two and quit formal schooling due to his disability and started self-teaching.
Other than being physically disabled, Emmanuel is a normal person, but never in his wildest dream did he think that someday he would settle down with a beautiful woman.
�I have never dreamed of this. I feel like I�m in a dream and woke up in the morning with all by myself. God has done miracle for me. It is God�s gift. This is the most important and most memorable moment in my life,� Emmanuel said, after he tied the knot. The couple made nuptial vows before a local pastor as per Mizo Christian traditions on Tuesday.
