Two Parsi women married outside religion can attend parents' last rites

After a long legal battle, two Parsi women - Goolrokh M. Gupta and Shiraz Rajiv Patodia - who had married outside the religion got the right to enter fire temples in Valsad and attend the last rites of their parents, including the ritual bath in the Tower of Silence as and when they pass away.

The constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra passed the order after senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the Valsad Anjuman Trust, told the court that the trust has agreed to permit the two sisters to participate in their parents' last rites.

However, the larger question of the rights of Parsi women to enter the Anjuman and the temple even after marrying outside the community, has been kept open and would be heard on January 17.

The Supreme Court had on November 7 asked the Parsi Anjuman in Gujarat's Valsad to consider the plea of woman from the community seeking to attend the funeral of her father as and when he passes away.

The court asked the Parsi Anjuman Trust to consider the plea of the two sisters as it had observed both have not surrendered their affection to their father and that "DNA does not evaporate" after marrying outside the religion.

Gupta had moved the top court seeking a declaration from the court that she would not be barred from attending the funeral of her father merely because she has married outside the religion.

Having married outside Parsi religion under the Special Marriage Act, she had contended that merely this would not result in her excommunication from Parsi religious activities.

Having married a non-Parsi in 1991 and subsequently denied entry into the Parsi fire temple or against participating in other rituals, Gupta has challenged the Gujarat High Court's 2012 judgment which says that after marrying a person of another religion under the Special Marriage Act, her identity would merge in the identity of her husband.

Besides Goolrokh, her sister Shiraz too has moved the top court against the High Court verdict.

--IANS

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