Hindu, Jewish women tie the knot in Britain

LONDON: It is not the first since gay marriage was legalised in England in March 2014, but Kalavati Mistry marrying her Jewish partner Miriam Jefferson in a Hindu ceremony in Leicester is considered a first for the Indian community here.

Initially, Mistry, 48, could not find a Hindu priest to perform the ceremony, but eventually female priest Chanda Vyas agreed. The ceremony over the weekend.

Vyas told Leicester-based news agency Pukaar News: “Kalavati and Miriam were so happy and I was honour ed to be a part of it and to be able to help make K ala vat i’ s Hindu wedding dream a reality.”

Mistry and Jefferson reportedly met more than 20 years ago during a training course in America, but Mis try had kept her sexuality a secret for years, since it was “very difficult for me as an Asian gay woman”.

But Mistry’s friends and family have been “welcoming and embracing” to Jefferson since she revealed their relationship. According to Jefferson, they had a Jewish wedding in San Antonio, Texas, earlier this year.

The couple moved to the US after the ceremony.