Sara Mayer, Hasid Who Committed Suicide, Was Forced To Marry First Cousin

Faigy Mayer, sister of Sara Mayer. Both women killed themselves. Image by Faigy Mayer/Facebook

By John A. Oswald November 24, 2015

Sara Mayer, the 31-year-old Brooklyn Hasidic woman who hanged herself Sunday four months after her sister Faigy’s suicide, reportedly went into a tailspin after she was forced to marry her first cousin.

Mayer never recovered mentally from the arranged marriage five years ago, . She was also the victim of years of both psychological and physical abuse.

The depression that set in never lifted — even after the union was annulled.

“Ever since [her marriage], she has been in and out of mental hospitals. She had been coerced by her mother’s side of the family. She married the son of the mother’s sister,” the source told The Post.

“[Her suicide] was a family mental-health and abuse issue on top of being forced into marriage with her first cousin.”

Mayer’s kid sister Faigy, 30 — who left the Hasidic community — jumped off a rooftop in July.

RELATED: Faigy Mayer leaps from building

“To have lost two girls in less than a year shows that something is up with this family. It’s very sad,” the Post’s source said.

At Sara Mayer’s funeral Monday, her father, speaking in Yiddish, eulogized both daughters inside Shomrei Hadas Chapels in Borough Park.

“I’m asking forgiveness from you if I didn’t do enough for you,” he said of Sara. “I saw you suffering and I tried my best.”

“Both my eyes are crying, one for each child,” he said.

John Oswald is The Forward’s deputy digital media editor.

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