Indian eunuchs mourn 15 killed in fire at ceremony

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_EUNUCHS_KILLED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-21-06-51-05


Indian eunuchs sit at the scene of a fire at a fairground in New Delhi, India, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. The blaze, which killed more than a dozen people, happened during a gathering of thousands of eunuchs at a prayer ceremony and feast held once every five years at a fairground in the Nandnagary neighborhood of east Delhi. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

NEW DELHI (AP) -- An isolated and shunned community of castrated men, transvestites and transsexuals mourned Monday for 15 comrades killed when a fire blazed through a makeshift tent where they had gathered to honor deceased friends.

The fire Sunday night sent the thousands of gathered eunuchs into a panic as people struggled to escape the burning tent, witnesses and police said. In addition to those killed, at least 36 others were injured, most of them elderly.

The term eunuch, or hijra, is used in India to describe a community of people who identify themselves as neither male nor female but as members of a third gender. They traditionally survive by begging, dancing at weddings or blessing newborn babies and are frequently subjected to discrimination.

While the community of 700,000 is often mocked, eunuchs' prayers and good wishes - and curses if they are angered - are considered powerful by most Indians.

[William769]

1. I read about this last night brought tears to my eyes.

Recommended.

[hootinholler]

2. I had no clue there were even eunichs in existence

This is so sad. And then the fire on top of it all.

[rhett o rick]

3. I think their definition of eunich is different than the dictionary's nm

[Sub Atomic]

4. But for teh Grayse of Gawd, there go all of us.

I'm not a religious man, but I pray for a day when we're all accepted for who we are.