New Delhi: Parents in India are increasingly opting for 'corrective rapes' on their gay children in a desperate bid to make them 'straight'.
The revelation has been made by LGBT Collective, a facilitating body that connects lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities from across the South West peninsula.
Crisis intervention team of LGBT Collective said that, in Andhra and Telangana, there have been at least 15 instances of 'corrective rapes' in last five years.
Vyjayanti Mogli, a member of Crisis Intervention, told TOI that they came across such cases not because victims reported the rape, but because they sought help to flee their homes.
"We are sure there are many more cases, but they go unreported," Mogli said.
Shockingly, it's all in the family the parents are in the know, the rapist is usually a relative that is handpicked by them, and it's like a 'disciplining project' designed to 'cure' and 'correct' the homosexual kid.
What is 'corrective rape'?
Under Corrective rape, homosexuals are raped because of their perceived sexual orientation.
The term corrective rape was coined in South Africa after well-known cases of corrective rapes of lesbians like Eudy Simelane (who was also murdered in the same attack) and Zoliswa Nkonyana became public. Although some countries have laws protecting LGBT people, corrective rape is often overlooked.
Mogli said that the perpetrators are family members because of which the victims refrain from seeking legal action.
Hyderabad based filmmaker Deepthi Tadanki is presently working on a short film named, Satyavati. It is based on real-life stories including the case of the young gay man being forced to have sex with his mother.
