In a tragic incident, two women, allegedly in a relationship, committed suicide by jumping into River Sabarmati in Ahmedabad.
Asha Thakor, 30, and Bhavna Thakor, 27—both residents of Bavla, a small town near Ahmedabad—are believed to have jumped into the river on late Sunday night. Their bodies were fished out on Monday.
Before jumping into death, Asha allegedly threw her three-year-old daughter into the river. The child has also died. Asha is survived by her husband and a nine-year-old daughter.
Police have registered a case of accidental death.
Ahmedabad-based sociologist and a professor at Gujarat University, Gaurang Jani, told THE WEEK that such relationships, even in small towns, date back to centuries. According to him, in a male dominated society, relationship between two men (gays) is talked about while relationship between two women remains under the carpet.
On the parapet of the riverfront, the duo wrote a message in Gujarati that they left this world to “become one”. They also left a message written with lipstick on a thermocol dish which stated that this world did not allow them to stay together. They also said that they would meet again in their next birth.
According to sources, Bhavna's husband Kanti had committed suicide the day he came to know about their relationship.
Police inspector of Sabarmati Riverfront (West), M.A. Singh, said Bhavna was identified from the Aadhaar card found in her bag.
Both the women had left their homes on June 8.
Sources said Bhavna and Asha were in a relationship for the last few months ever since they started working in a factory in Bavla.
Jani opined that there was a need to scrap Section 377 of the IPC as it affects the LGBT community. “Under this section, such relationship is not accepted,” he said.