Gujarat couple who killed selves lost job for lesbian ties: Cops

AHMEDABAD: The two women —

Asha Thakor

and

Bhavna Thakor

— who killed themselves by jumping into the Sabarmati here on June 11, were allegedly fired from the plywood unit they worked at because of their sexual orientation. The lovers had proclaimed in red lipstick that they would ‘unite in death after the world did not allow them to be together’.

Police said that the women were sacked from a plywood processing unit in Changodar industrial area in the city two months ago as the employers felt that their relationship would affect other employees working there.

“The women used to spend their time together. We have been told that they had started locking themselves in the bathroom for hours. Fearing that their behaviour would adversely affect other employees, their employer sacked the duo,” said PI M A Singh at the Riverfront police station.

Asha (30) and Bhavna (28) ended their lives along with Asha’s three-year-old daughter Megha by jumping off the walkway near the Gurjari market on the Sabarmati riverfront in the city.

Sources said that the husbands of both the women had no steady source of income. Cops said that the family members and the co-workers of the two women had known about their relationship.

When contacted Asha’s husband Himmat Thakor, said, “Asha had left the job two months ago stating that she was not satisfied with the work environment there. I was not aware that she was sacked by her employers.”

Asha was staying in Ghanshyam Residency in Bavla town while Bhavna was a resident of Rajoda village of Bavla. Bhavna married around 15 years ago and had two sons aged around 14 and 13 years and Asha married 10 years ago and had two daughters aged six years and three years, said police.

Asha’s daughter Megha (3) was the youngest one in the family of four persons. According to sources, when Asha was preparing to leave her house with Bhavna, Megha clung to her leg, urging her mother to take her along.

Police said that Asha had told her relatives that she was going out for some work.

Asha had told me about lesbian relationship: Husband

Asha’s husband Himmat Thakor, a daily wager, said that his wife had told him about her intimate relationship with Bhavna. “Asha had told me about four months ago that she had started liking Bhavna and she was in relationship with her. I did not have any problem with that because I wanted to live with her irrespective of her love towards another woman,” said Thakor. Thakor said that his and Bhavna’s family used to meet occasionally but Bhavna’s husband Kanti did not like his wife being attracted to another woman. Kanti had committed suicide when his wife had left their home on June 8.