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Kanchan Rai |555 Answers |Ask -Follow

Relationships Expert, Mind Coach - Answered on Feb 21, 2025

Kanchan Rai has 10 years of experience in therapy, nurturing soft skills and leadership coaching. She is the founder of the Let Us Talk Foundation, which offers mindfulness workshops to help people stay emotionally and mentally healthy.
Rai has a degree in leadership development and customer centricity from Harvard Business School, Boston. She is an internationally certified coach from the International Coaching Federation, a global organisation in professional coaching.... more

Asked by Anonymous - Sep 03, 2024

I am in relationship with a kind beautiful girl, hope we will get married , our families know eachother . But my gf was in relationship with someone in teenage and is getting blackmailed . She is afraid , she told me everything before , it's very confusing for me should I marry her , what if my family knows about it , he's blackmailing her and is telling her to not marry me otherwise he will share her private pics in social media . Should I be afraid , I love her and can wait for her , should I tell my family about this all. I really care for her and never judge for past relationship.

Ans: the most important thing is supporting your girlfriend without letting fear or confusion overwhelm you. She trusted you enough to share her past, which means she sees you as her safe space. Right now, your focus should be on helping her deal with the blackmail rather than doubting your future together.

Blackmail is a crime, and this guy is taking advantage of her fear. The worst thing you both can do is let him control the situation. Encourage her to take legal action—she can file a police complaint under cybercrime laws, and in many cases, authorities act swiftly against such threats. If she is too scared to go to the police, you can explore other options like speaking to a lawyer for guidance.

As for your family, you need to assess how they might react. If they are open-minded and supportive, telling them could help, but if you think they will overreact or judge her unfairly, you may want to keep this between you and your girlfriend for now. The key is ensuring she feels safe and not abandoned.

If you truly love her and see a future together, don’t let her past or someone else’s threats ruin what you both have. Instead, focus on finding a solution. Stand by her, but also make sure she takes action to free herself from this emotional and psychological burden.

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Anu Krishna |1553 Answers |Ask -Follow

Relationships Expert, Mind Coach - Answered on Apr 06, 2022

Question by TG - Apr 06, 2022Hindi

Hi Anu, I am in a relationship with a girl from my office for nearly 1.5 years now. We both speak Marathi only sub caste is different.At start of our relationship we discussed about it as she tells me her parents will not support her, so I convinced her that I will support her in every way possible to convince her parent and will stand with her though every situation. I am 31 years old and she is 27. Her parents told her that she has 2 years for marriage so she is currently focusing on career right now.My parents are forcing me for marriage. As her family has issues with my subcaste and she is not willing to disclose our relationship for another 2 years. So I told her that I will wait for 1 year then we can disclose our relationship to both families mines and her, if your family agrees we can wait for one more year so that she can focus on career and she can get 2 years as per her parents. Moreover I will always support her in career and family issues. But still she is not ready she told me that she will not tell her family about our relationship until 2 years are complete. Can you please suggest me any solution for this?

Ans:

Dear TG,

At this point, what is missing for you possibly is if after the wait, if she will still be there in the relationship?

If she isn’t willing to complicate her family life at this point in time, I guess she has valid reasons for that which must be respected.

But what If the two of you sit down where you can put down your feelings and find an amicable way of easing this.

I am sure there are a lot of ifs and buts that is making you feel the way that you are. It is only imperative that you called out to her and be firm and assertive as to how this might be playing in your mind.

For all you know, once she hears your side of the story and she shares hers, solutions emerge from that especially when the commitment is strong.

So, have that one meaningful conversation where feelings, fears and insecurities are shared and watch how the two of you will come up with something wonderful as a solution.

All the best!

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Anu Krishna |1553 Answers |Ask -Follow

Relationships Expert, Mind Coach - Answered on Apr 12, 2023