"I did not even know what Section 377 was until I got a call from the police station. I didn't understand what was criminal in my actions," said a 49-year-old NRI businessman from south Mumbai who was slapped with an FIR for gay sex after his wife found out about his male lover in 2009. Over the next five years, Vikram (name changed) was allegedly harassed by the police, whom he paid over Rs 10 lakh as hush money.

Today, Vikram is living a better life in Canada with his husband of four years. But the SoBo businessman can never forget the trauma he suffered at the hands of the Mumbai police after his wife filed a case against him under Section 377 of the IPC, a British-era law that criminalised same-sex relations.