A loving Indian mum who wants to get her son married has placed a contact ad – seeking a groom for him.

The ad read: ‘Seeking 25-40, Well Placed, Animal-Loving, Vegetarian Groom for my son (36, 5’11’’) who works with an NGO’.

As is traditional, the advertisement was placed by the man’s mother. It had previously been rejected by both the Times of India and the Hindustan Times on the grounds that homosexuality is illegal in the country.

The man, prominent Indian activist Harish Iyer, told the Times of India: ‘My mom worries about me too much. She is constantly thinking that I am getting old, will be alone, and all those concerns a mother has. So, she and I had a discussion last week and decided to go ahead with placing a matrimonial ad looking for a gay person. The ad is drafted by her, though I edited out the gotras [clans] that she had put.’

Gay marriage ad India

Harish told the newspaper that so far, three people have responded, and he advised her to proceed like she would have if she were looking for a girl for her.

He added: ‘I will take my time before I give my nod. I am an animal lover and would want my partner to be one. And I am going to have the last word in who I choose because I am going to be living with him, not my mother. Having said that, it is my mom who has led me into finding someone for myself.’

A court judgement in 2009 found that the law banning gay sex, known as section 377, was illegal; however, as So So Gay reported at the time, a legal challenge launched by conservatives – including Muslim and Christian religious associations, a right wing politician and a retired bureaucrat turned astrologist – overturned the ruling in 2013.