Couples | India | News

New:
Towleroad Tools:
« Miami-Dade Commission Passes Domestic Partner Ordinance | Main | Mark Ballas Not Bothered by Stereotypes or a Man's Tongue »

05/20/2008


Denied Life Together, Lesbian Couple in India Burn in Suicide Pact

A tragic tale out of Chennai, India, where the families of Christy Jayanthi Malar, 38, and her partner, identified as Rukmani, 40, discovered the lovers' embracing bodies. They had doused themselves in kerosene and set themselves on fire:

Chennai"Two married women, who allegedly shared a lesbian relationship, committed suicide by setting themselves ablaze after their families tried to separate them. The police recovered the charred bodies of the women, who died hugging each other, from the residence of one of the women at Sathangadu, near Thiruvotriyur, on Saturday. The incident came to light on Saturday morning when the family members noticed thick smoke emanating from the house, where the women stayed the previous night. They peeped through the window and were shocked to see the bodies lying as if they had died hugging each other."

The full story here.

In related news the Delhi HC is considering public interest litigation that would decriminalize homosexuality in the country.

Sphere: Related Content

Posted 12:41 PM EST by Andy in Couples, India, News | Permalink

Like it?

Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!

... or by Email
RECENT STORIES:

Comments

  1. way to go committing suicide...those against them just won the battle by getting rid of them which is exactly what they wanted - this proves nothing and furthers no cause except the "movement to be ass clowns"

    Posted by: EPIC FAIL | May 20, 2008 1:05:59 PM


  2. Eerily similar to that movie 'Fire':

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116308/

    Posted by: Jeff | May 20, 2008 1:21:34 PM


  3. MY GOD!!! What kind of despair had these women been feeling when it's better to burn yourself to death rather than be separated from the person you love.

    Posted by: JerzeeMike | May 20, 2008 1:51:09 PM


  4. They were martyrs. Some Western Gays are spoiled rotten, and have never known what it means to not be allowed to be yourself. Some of y'all have the sensibilities of concentration camp guards.

    Posted by: Derrick from Philly | May 20, 2008 1:52:19 PM


  5. Couldn't they have picked a better way to kill yourself? There are much easier ways to go (less painful). That just screams "Drama Queen".

    Just overdose or something! Even slitting your wrists would hurt less.

    Posted by: Chad | May 20, 2008 2:28:19 PM


  6. I believe people may not understand the cultural statement these ladies were making. I suspect that they were evoking sati, the act of a widow burning themselves on a funeral pyre to be with their husband. To quote the wiki "The term is derived from the original name of the goddess Sati also known as Dakshayani, who immolated herself, unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her (living) husband Shiva." These women were being humiliated by their families, forced to deny the love that they felt.

    I am not saying I am reading their minds, but to me, it is possible that they chose this method as a symbol of what they were being forced to endure. It is a statement and something to be respect, even if it is tragic.

    Posted by: Dennis | May 20, 2008 2:37:33 PM


  7. Once again organized religion and the prejudice of the ignorant masses works it's magic. May you RIP ladies.

    Posted by: farfromhome | May 20, 2008 2:54:59 PM


  8. India has some of the harshest penalties in the world for gay acts. They have a long way to go.

    Posted by: anon | May 20, 2008 3:13:21 PM


  9. "India has some of the harshest penalties in the world for gay acts. They have a long way to go."

    It's not just gay acts - last week a father (and four other villagers) brutally murdered his own pregnant daughter and her lover for bringing shame to the family/village - not only will they never be prosecuted for this heinous but not uncommon act but are now considered celebrated heroes. The mind boggles...

    Posted by: Giovanni | May 20, 2008 4:11:00 PM


  10. It's now being reported that the families of the two women cremated them together in their funeral ceremony.

    These women were desperate for their families' acceptance of their relationship. So desperate that they were willing to kill themselves in the most painful, horrible way. In the end it seems they got their wish.

    May they both Rest in Peace TOGETHER forever.

    Posted by: Zeke | May 20, 2008 5:18:35 PM


  11. CHAD, have some respect, those women died for something extremely important and honorable, it's highly disrespectful to make such a lame comment.

    Everyone else, will everyone stop saying stuff like "they have a long way to go" and so on and so forth, acting as if we're so civilized. Rather than saying "they" we need to say "we" because the whole world has a ways to go before being an ideal place, their struggle is out struggle as well

    Posted by: Pekemo | May 20, 2008 8:24:57 PM


  12. I agree that we should be understanding of other cultures, even those seemingly stranger than our own. Once we realize that we're one and the same, maybe then things will start moving in the right direction, for the greater good. God, now I sound like those witches from CHARMED! May these ladies RIP!

    Posted by: Shabaka | May 20, 2008 9:05:00 PM


  13. My gosh, how are gay people supposed to fit in with idiots like Epicfail and Chad around? Gay people in America are relativly privledged compared to our global counterparts.

    Posted by: Ethrim | May 20, 2008 11:06:04 PM


  14. Hi,
    Took you a while to get the news this time!
    Anyway, a related post by me is here: http://queerindia.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-own-private-idaho.html

    Posted by: Nitin Karani | May 21, 2008 2:34:46 AM


  15. Its sad to think that their lives had become so bad that they accepted this as the only way out. The evil that some people do at others, in the name of religion, is disturbing, but at least these people think they have a reason. Good or bad IS a relative view point. Stupid and tasteless comments like some of the ones above just show ignorance. Kenneth Walch from kenneth in the 212 blog decided to make a joke about it. He wrote "an attempt at making s'mores gone horribly awry." We need to remember that morons like kenneth, epicfail and chad don't help our cause and lifestyle at all. Granted its a BAD reason, but it is a reason that alot of straight people will continue to be intolerant of gays. Seems that we can't unite, even when tragic events like this show the world how we are treated. kenneth, epicfail and chad, shame on you!

    Posted by: Scot | May 21, 2008 3:14:16 AM


  16. "I believe people may not understand the cultural statement these ladies were making. I suspect that they were evoking sati..."

    @Dennis - I think you're right.

    In essence one might interpret them as subverting a cultural practice with extremely ancient (400 A.D.) roots, defying thousands of years of heterosexual tradition by saying: "If we can't live as a married couple, we'll die like one."

    The cultural impact would leave a pretty deep mark, somewhat tantamount to sacrilege.

    While the tradition of "sati" may be out of practice and considered barbaric, there are still accounts of wives throwing themselves to their deaths on their husbands' funeral pyre as recently as 2006.

    Posted by: Aman Chaudhary | May 21, 2008 5:39:22 AM


Post a comment






Lijit Search