Getting married at mother's funeral

A Malaysian Indian, in a simple gesture of love, got married at his mother's funeral instead of a temple.

It was a wedding ceremony unlike any other with a son getting married at his mother's funeral.

In a simple gesture of love for his mother, ethnic Malaysian Indian P Sanjeevi Rajan married his fiancee Sasikalah in front of his mother's body at the family's house in Port Klang near here on Tuesday to fulfil her dream of seeing him married.

Sanjeevi's mother 47-year-old Narani died of a heart attack in Chennai on Sunday while shopping for the wedding, which had been originally scheduled for June 30.

When her body was brought to the house, Narani's husband Perumal suggested that Sanjeevi Rajan honour his mother's dream of seeing her son married.

The bride and the groom consented and the wedding ceremonies were conducted without the two circling the fire.

Sanjeevi then washed the feet of his parents as his father stood near his wife's body.

The 'mangalsutra' was placed in the mother's hand before Sanjeevi Rajan tied it around his fiancee's neck.

"I could have got married in the temple later, but would my mother be there? At least now, my mother is still here. My parents were side by side. It means the world to me.

"It's both the saddest and happiest day for me in one go," the son was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying.