Eunuch seeks election

A eunuch is contesting the upcoming state assembly by-elections in central India's Madhya Pradesh state, one of an increasing number striving to hold elected office in the state. On his campaign trail Heera Bai is telling Jabalpur voters that having tried out male and female candidates, who had failed them miserably in the past, they should now give a eunuch the chance to serve them. Eunuchs from across India are streaming into Jabalpur, 150 miles from the state capital, Bhopal, to support Bai.

Last month a 50-year old eunuch created history by being elected mayor of the small nearby town of Katni, defeating candidates from the country's two main parties. The victorious mayor said he had no regrets about not having a family. "The people of Katni are now my family " he added. All political parties were steeped in corruption, had betrayed the interests of the common people and done little other than make false promises, he said. Eunuchs would redress those wrongs. Social workers say Indian eunuchs are subject to ridicule and many are forced into prostitution and are suffering from sexually-transmitted diseases. Many have also tested HIV-positive. Indian eunuchs are part of a bizarre freemasonry which sustains itself by collecting money by dancing outside houses of newly-born babies and at weddings.

A northern Indian state yesterday ordered an Indian-born Canadian producer to halt production on a film following violence by Hindu militants and an attempted suicide by a protester.