The deaths of both the ‘queens’ has left a void in the eunuch community’s leadership
With both rival eunuch leaders of the state now dead, it is unclear who will replace them as Queen Bee. While reigning queen Sonia De was shot dead in cold blood by a sharp-shooter on November 17, her rival Sanju De, who had ordered the killing, succumbed to ill health on Thursday.
These two deaths in the past two months have left a gaping void in the state-wide eunuch community's leadership. In life as in their deaths, Sanju and Sonia were always trying to go one up on each other, which had led to the community being divided into two major camps. In fact, it was the bitter rivalry between the two 'queens' that had caused much unwanted attention and defamation to the state's eunuch community at large.
Sonia De, born Imran Ajmeri, began her stint as a eunuch when the then leader Sanju took her under her wing. However, not satisfied with being second-in-command, Sonia quickly rounded up her followers and begun her rally to the top, after 1996. Their rivalry had come to a head when the two started warring over turf in the city, which had led to many incidents of violence between the two groups.
In one such rivalry-induced rage, Sonia had even flung acid at Sanju in Surat in 2007. This incident had left Sanju with severe burns all over her body.
However, with both of them now dead, speculation about the successor to the leadership pf the community is the talk of the town.
Sonia had two lieutenants, Bhavna De and Neetu De, whereas Sanju had no second-in-command, having learnt a hard lesson after Sonia had left her in the lurch, although Seema De is said to have been the closest to being the successor to Sanju in recent times. The two groups have a common guru at Kapadvanj in Kheda district, who could provide an amicable solution to the power games.
Meanwhile, many disputes have emerged after the murder of Sonia, who was the owner of a large amount of property and cash, reportedly worth crores. Sonia did not leave any sort of will, which has resulted in disputed claims between her brother Qayyum Ajmeri and Sonia's close aides over her estate.
A third possibility could be that the two camps which had formed over the divide between Sanju and Sonia could once again come together and become a single unit. Or will the lieutenants step up and replace their leaders to continue their gang wars?
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