There is a bizarre and disturbing case out of India where an Indian man has been criminally charged after his wife filmed homosexual liaisons in their home and took the evidence to the police. It is a crime punishable by life in prison to engage in homosexual relations in India. The case is an insight not only into the abusive Indian criminal code but the traditions of such arranged marriages. What is interesting is that the wife, a dentist, has also charged her in-laws with a crime after alleging that they had to know that their son was gay before the marriage.
The wife said that after their marriage, she developed some suspicions. That would seem mild given the fact that the husband refused to touch her, insisted on sleeping in separate rooms, and wore what she described as lady-like underwear and wear make up. They lived separately (working in different cities) for the first six months of their marriage. The husband, a 32-year old engineer with the financial services department of Infosys, would often return home early and the wife heard that men were coming to the house. She said that the continual use of pink lip gloss began to raise her suspicions. However, she says that, when she raised the problems with her in-laws, they told her that it was her fault.
She decided to set up hidden cameras for when she would be going to out of town for 10 days. She ended up capturing scenes of homosexual sex. One can understand the effort to confirm her suspicions, but the next step was unexpected. She burned a CD and then burned her husband by going to the police.
The husband was charged under the infamous section 377 of the criminal code. The section was declared unconstitutional by the Delhi High Court in July 2009, but the Supreme Court later overturned that ruling.
It remains astonishing to me that a nation with India would maintain such a law. However, the case also highlights the dangers of arraigned marriages. My maternal grandparents had such an arraigned marriage within their Sicilian community. They can be successful, but such marriages often reflect sexist or abusive treatment of girls in many cultures. It is also the denial of one of the most important decisions of a person’s life in selecting a partner.
What is interesting is the use of these arranged marriages for professionals. I once watched mothers bartering in a park in Beijing over arranging dates for their respective adult professional children. Chinese professionals are viewed as too busy to date and mothers continue to arrange marriages.
The wife in this case is understandably upset by an arraigned marriage gone bad. However, to convert the matter into a criminal charge is a terrible decision. The husband was wrong to get married to her if he is gay. However, the central problem is with the archaic tradition of arranged marriages. In any case, the use of an abusive criminal provision goes well beyond the reasonable, even for a shocked and legitimately angry spouse.
Source: Bangalore Mirror
rcocean
At least we can say that this isn’t one of those U.S. Judeo-Christian exported hate laws, this time.
Oops, sorry Singapore. (tied eyes, lazy mind)
rcocean
Sec. 377A is an antiquated law from when India was a British colony…
Well Paul C.
It’s hot when two men have sex… just sayin’.
Max-1 = to each his own. ‘)
I think the idea the whole world has to live by the values and beliefs of the NYT Op-ed page and the Harvard Law school rather odd.
“their antiquated Judeo-Christian anti-gay laws…” Really? I wonder how many Christians there are in Singapore, or many Jews for that matter. I guess people don’t believe in Imperialism except when it comes to what people should believe and what laws they should have.
Jim 22, I’ll drink to that!
Teji Malik, thank you for your enlightened comment.
Hey, it’s their culture and it’s their country. We can’t impose our values on them any more than they can impose arranged marriages on us. The wife was a victim of fraud. A marriage is a life sentence, the punishment against it might be considered equal. Remember Islam is a religion of peace. We have to accept their laws and be politically correct? Why accept all of the trappings of that religion and not allow India’s tradition? What I think is irrelevant, as it’s really none of my business.
Paul C.
You’re welcome to review the videos and interviews I posted for your answers. It has nothing to do with occupations and more to do with dogma and stigmas…
Another former British colony decided to retain their antiquated Judeo-Christian anti-gay laws…
Court of Appeal rules that Section 377A that criminalises sex between men is constitutional
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/court-appeal-rules-section-377a-criminalises-sex-between-men-const
What is not clear is if the law would be applied to lesbians or do the Singapore anti-gay bigots think, like many Americans, that lesbian sex is HOT!!!
How many of you know Indian culture in reality ? Once you answer that, then we shall talk. It is a shame that Prof. Turley, the world traveller comparing his grandparents marriage to this one in India. I wonder how much he knows about Indian culture which is an amalgam of many different cultures and languages. Many of the marriages in middle class or not arranged as per definition and implication here.
To lump 1.3 billion people in one unit is not only ignorance but insulting to one’s own intelligence.
This reminds me of all those sodomy laws in the USA which were never enforced.
Yes, we know the law SAYS life imprisonment for homosexuality but how many are actually convicted under the law? India has 1.2 Billion people, and one assumes millions of homosexuals, I doubt many of them are in prison.
rcocean – there is a thing called selective enforcement.that has always gone on in policing and in the D.A.s office. I don’t agree with the crime? I don’t arrest people for it. or convict people of it, depending on my job.
Max-1 – it really depends who the lesbians are as to how hot it is. 😉
Sandi, Amen, sister!!
Sandi, until conservatives take us back to the “good old days”.
Societies still behind in another century (arranged marriages, laws against homosexuality) reaffirm what a great country we live in!