Sangli Werewolf Sisters Want to Get Married (VIDEO)
The Sangli werewolf sisters want to get married.
The Sangli werewolf sisters of Pune, India— Savita, 23, Monisha, 18, and Savitri, 16— are affected by a condition called hypertrichosis universalis disorder, which causes hair to grow uncontrollably all over their bodies. The condition is called werewolf syndrome, and it is so rare it affects only one in a billion people.
Despite this, though, the girls' mother, Anita Sambhaji Raut, still dreams of arranging marriages for her daughters to decent men. That's the way her marriage was arranged, and so Anita married a man with werewolf syndrome.
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"It was only on the day of my marriage that I discovered what he was, [he] was hairy on his face, ears and body, that's when I found out," the mother of six told a filmmaker.
Because Anita was only 12 years old and vulnerable, she agreed to the marriage. She didn't have much choice; if she didn't, her uncle and aunt, who took care of her, would kill her.
"I was only 12 when they forced me into marriage, and if you don't agree to marriage as a girl they will kill you off," explained the troubled mother.
For her girls, Anita fears her daughters will be ostracized their entire lives if they are not married.
Currently, all three of the Sangli sisters use a hair-removal cream almost daily to make themselves look more normalized. Unfortunately, though, the permanent solution— a type of laser hair removal surgery— costs far too much for the family, at about $4,500 (350,000 rupees) per child.
When the cream stops working, that's when the teasing and ostracism would begin, says Savita, the eldest daughter.
"When I used to go to school the boys and the girls would shout, 'hairy face,' 'horrible looking,' 'don't sit next to her,'— that's how they behaved," explained the saddened girl.
Savita has largely given up hope of becoming a normal Indian girl who gets married and has a family.
"Marriage is not an option for us … It's not likely to happen. Who is going to marry us when hair keeps growing on our faces?" said the 23-year-old, who is old to be unmarried, according to the customs of the culture.
Documentarian Sneh Gupta began filming the girls to highlight their cause to help them beat werewolf syndrome, and get them married. He hasn't given up, and neither has the girls' mother, Anita.
"If a good [marriage] proposal comes in, I'll get her married. If nothing comes in she'll have to work and survive. As long as I am living I have to keep trying," said the distraught mother.
To see an excerpt of Sneh Gupta's documentary, see below:
