Tamil Nadu Woman Guises Herself As A Man For Three Decades To Raise Daughter

It’s a common social notion that a mother will take on any role to ensure that her child is raised with security and does not feel that they lack something. Stories of many single mothers have been recounted and there’s another woman from Tamil Nadu’s Toothukodi or Tuticorin district who has raised her daughter alone but under the guise of a man.

Pechiyammal or known around Katunayakkanpatti as Muthu Master, the woman has been living in the guise of a man for over three decades since her husband passed away. Reportedly, she was 20-year-old when she lost her husband and later gave birth to a baby girl.

Tamil Nadu Woman Guises As Man

As per &t=1s">reports, she adopted the alias and changed her name after she struggled to find a living in a couple of villages before she settled in Katunayakkanpatti. Now known as Muthu, the woman cropped her hair and also started wearing lungi and shirt to look like a man so that she could raise her daughter.

Over the last three decades, she spent earning a living doing odd jobs which were largely performed by men. The 57-year-old has also worked at a tea and parotta shop because of which people refer to her as Muthu Master.

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Speaking to a local media channel, she recounted her entire ordeal and said that she has worked whatever jobs were available like painting, working at a coconut shop and others. She said that she does not regret changing her appearance to that of a man to raise her daughter. She also says that she is comfortable with the way she is presently living and that she wishes to be remembered like it after her demise.

The daughter who also features for a short while got emotional while recounting the sacrifices her mother made. Meanwhile, another woman close to the mother-daughter duo told the media that no one in the village except a couple of people and Muthu’s daughter knew that she was a woman and not a man.

As Muthu is ageing, she is struggling to keep working and wanted to apply for Tamil Nadu’s Widow Pension Scheme to avail of limited financial assistance but is unable to do so. Muthu does not have her husband’s death certificate and has a male name on her Aadhar card and now seeks help with the same.