Social Stigma Pushes Lesbian Couple To Suicide

A lesbian couple in Gujarat’s Ahmadabad town has ended its life by jumping into the Sabarmati River on Monday. A three year old girl, daughter of one of them was also thrown into the water before the duo jumped. Dead bodies of Asha Thakor (30) and Bhavna Thakor (28) were retrieved by the rescue team. They also rescued the child alive and sent her to a nearby hospital for treatment but she was declared dead at the hospital.

A suicide note written in lipstick was found on the bank of the river. “We have left this world to live with each other,” the note read. “The world did not allow us to stay together. We did not have any men with us.”

Another note found at the same site said: “This world did not allow us to stay together. When will we meet again? When will we meet… perhaps in the next birth… we will meet again.”

Ahmedabad Police Inspector MS Singh said Asha Thakor’s brother-in-law appeared to have known about the women’s relationship. “It appears that they first threw the child into the river before jumping off the Ellisbridge.”

The two women worked with a private firm in Rajoda. Bhavna Thakor is survived by two sons.

Similar cases were also reported earlier in 2001, in Kerala two tribal girls were found dead near an irrigation canal after their families refused to let them marry.

In 2008, two women set themselves on fire in Chennai after their families tried to separate them.

In 2011, two women killed themselves in Nandigram in West Bengal, stating in their suicide note that they could not live without one another.