Skeletons in the Closet: Hijra Sudha Rajakumari speaks out about the truth of Dr. Pastel

New Delhi, India (GSP). An article today from Bollywood Weekly, a monthly Indian entertainment report (est. circulation 250 million sub-continent wide), interviewed transgender eunuch Sudha Rajakumari, who has alledgly been world-renowned embalmment science lab technician Dr. Amar Pastel’s mistress for several years. Recently diagnosed with HIV, he/she has chosen to speak out publicly about the affair, to force Pastel to recognize a common law marriage between him and him/her in order to seek aid for his/her condition.

Sudha lives on the fringe of society in the southern Tamil Nadu state. He/she was castrated 10 years-ago to become a eunuch: “I always felt like a man-woman in a man’s body.” With lavish makeup and a flowing wig, he/she is forced to work as a prostitute because “respectable” paths are not open to him/her, a result of Indian society’s century’s-old misunderstanding of the hijras, or aravannis, as they like to be called. Sudha daily walks through the streets, clapping to gain the attention of potential customers.

According to Sudha, Pastel frequents the southern Tamil Nadu state once a month on business trips to visit him/her. He always brings him/her American gifts such as Coca-Cola and mini-Statue of Liberty replicas, which he/she proudly displayed on a dusty shelf to Bollywood Weekly. He/she says that Pastel has told him/her that he loves him/her many times, and that they are in love.

Sudha was recently diagnosed with HIV by a Red Cross community health mission. Heartbroken, he/she has repeatedly and desperately attempted to contact Dr. Pastel to ask for help. Pastel has not responded, forcing Sudha to claim his/her last dying option: a leftover-from-the-days-of-the-British-style-common-law marriage between the two by the Indian government to seek the aid he/she needs.

Pastel’s counsel, Dimejios-OgunAshley, released a statement saying that although the affair has happened, because Sudha cannot be legally classified as a woman (or a man for that matter), the Indian state does not recognize the marriage which is only to be between a man and a woman. Poor Sudha, with no other options, has decided to see it through and appeal if necessary, even though plaintiffs rarely get far in the corrupt Indian appellate courts. His/her court date is set for 15 February 2007.