Pathankot, Jan. 21: In a real-life replay of Deepa Mehta’s Fire, sisters-in-law Bimla and Asha have married each other and abandoned their husbands.

Thirty-five-year-old Bimla and Asha revealed that the duo had married according to Hindu customs over a month ago. The marriage was solemnised by Asha’s husband and Bimla’s elder brother Inder Kumar, a labourer from Ramdarbar, Chandigarh. Asha, 32, has three children with Inder.

Bimla, from Pathankot, was also married to a labourer, Khushi Ram of Yamunanagar in Haryana.

She now prefers the name Bimal. Her brother, Bimla said, was an alcoholic and “used to beat” Asha, “accusing her of having illicit relationships. I saved her many times and we came closer to each other”.

After their marriage, Asha has left her children and is staying in Pathankot with her parents. She has also changed her name, to Sangita.

“I was in love with Asha ever since she was married to my brother 15 years back. She is very beautiful. We’re enjoying our life like any man and woman,” Bimla said. They have threatened to kill themselves if they are separated and neither regrets what they have done. “We were not happy with our past life which was full of pain and disrespect. There is no interference by men in our lives now,” said Asha.

The women are seen kissing and embracing each other in daily life and their marriage has become the talk of the town.

In the film Fire, Sita and Radha, married to two brothers in a family, found themselves in a lesbian relationship and eventually left their husbands’ home.

In Pathankot, Bimla, who is unemployed, is planning to start learning some trade to earn a living for herself and her newly-wed wife.