Going on a hunger strike doesn’t sound like the most effective way to win back lost love, but it worked in the case of one Indian man who camped outside his ex-girlfriend’s home and refused to eat until she agreed to marry him.

Ananta Burman, a young man from India’s West Bengal region had been in a stable relationship for eight years, but recently, his girlfriend, Lipika, simply cut off all communication, refusing to answer his phone calls and WhatsApp messages, as well as blocking him on social media. Ananta figured that something was wrong, so he did some digging and learned that Lipika’s family had agreed to marry her off to another man. Realizing that he had little time before he lost Lipika forever, the young man decided he had to do something extreme to get her back. So on Sunday he camped out the girl’s house in Dhupguri and went on a hunger strike.

Burman protest quickly drew the attention of passers-by, especially since he was holding a handwritten banner that read “Give back my eight years”, and as people learned of his plight, a supportive crowd started gathering around him. Word of Ananta Burman’s protest in the name of love spread around the local community, and soon the family of the man who was supposed to marry Lipika arrived on the scene, along with police, to have him removed.

The grieving lover refused to budge or end his hunger strike, but as the hours went by, his health started to deteriorate, and he was rushed to a local hospital. Still, he refused to eat, and that’s when locals intervened, asking Lipika and her family to give in to his demands to basically save his life. They eventually came around, canceled the upcoming wedding, and arranged for Ananta and Lipika to be married immediately.

Photos obtained by Indian media show the pair undergoing the traditional marital rituals at a local temple.