No investigation over gay Coronation Street character’s death, Ofcom rules

Coronation Street will not be investigated by Ofcom after the soap attracted more than 200 complaints over the killing off of a gay character.

The broadcasting watchdog said it received 236 complaints over the death of Rana, who died on her wedding day to another woman.

Complaints suggested that the ITV soap’s storyline was harmful to the LGBT+ community, by propagating the idea that gay relationships end in tragedy.

However, Ofcom has assessed the grievances and has chosen not to investigate.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: “We considered complaints that this storyline negatively portrayed gay relationships.

“In our view, the untimely death of the character was typical of this soap’s dramatic plotlines and would not have exceeded most viewers’ expectations.”

In the episode that aired on March 18, Bhavna Limbachia’s character Rana died in a factory collapse shortly before she was supposed to marry Kate Connor, played by Faye Brookes.

Viewers were devastated over her death, which had been requested by the actress herself in order for the character to bow out of the show in a “fitting” way, with members of the LGBT+ community airing their upset.

Limbachia later told ITV’s This Morning: “My decision to leave and be killed off was never meant to offend the LGBT+ community.

“It was made in the same way I’ve tried to portray the character throughout the years, and that’s with truth and integrity, and my decision to leave and have her killed off was made with the decision of two people being in love and their love being pure, regardless of their age, their gender, their sexuality, their religion.

“So the intention was never to offend the LGBT community. It was purely for two people being in love. I guess it was modern-day Romeo and Juliet, or a Juliet and Juliet love story.”