‘Corrective rapes‘ are said to be carried out by the victim’s own family members in a desperate bid for ‘straight’ children.
The parents will arrange the rape and handpick a relative – usually a cousin – to carry out the heinous act, claim the crisis intervention team of LGBT Collective in Telangana, southern India.
But in one shocking case, there are reports of family members in Bangalore forcing a gay boy to have sex with his mother to ‘cure‘ him.
In another incident, a young lesbian was raped by her cousin, while there are reports that sometimes victims’ own brothers are used to carry out the ‘corrective rape.’
The horrific crimes are so traumatising for their victims, they often go unreported, said a spokesman for the LGBT Collective told Times of India.
In many cases in southern India, a girl may have been promised to one of her cousins at birth so it is her betrothed that is brought in to carry out the ‘corrective rape.’
“If it is found out that she is in a relationship with another girl, elders in the family believe having sex with the ‘would-be’, even if it’s forcibly, will cure her,” the spokesman told Times of India.