Writes Shahzad Hussain Hamdani
Sarah Grimke-known as the Abolitionist Personality has once said, “All History count that man has subjugated women to his will, used her as a means to promote his self gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and says, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior……But I ask no favour for my sex…..All I ask our brethren is, that they will take their feet off from our necks and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God designed us to occupy”
“Bride tortured to death for dowry”, “School going Girl exploited by teacher; Girl died due to his injuries after beaten by father”, “A seventy year old man killed over property dispute”, All these and what not, turn to any newspaper at random and you would find the reports of such kind of violence all over the country. These are all what we come to know through different forms of media. There are more such cases which go unreported every day. In fact, include the cases which we our self-indulge in, or the ones which we witness in the neighborhood but are hesitant in taking even a single step to reduce their occurrences.
In our society, violence is bursting. It is present almost everywhere and nowhere is this eruption more intense than right behind the doors of our homes. Behind closed doors of homes all across our country, people are being tortured, beaten and killed. It is happening in rural areas, towns, cities and in metropolitans as well. It is crossing all social classes, genders, racial lines and age groups. It is becoming a legacy being passed on from one generation to another.
In a Country like India, the cruelest form of domestic violence is Dowry Death. Dowry death is an important topic in a country like India, which has given shame to the country. In the past centuries, women were generally abused exploited and discarded and were denied social, economic and political justice. Dowry is one among the cruel social practices practiced in India. Dowry is an issue in which women’s are exploited. It spoils the relationships between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, husband and wife and the family and the bride. Dowry is the main cause of greed. It is the greed in the humans that leads to the drastic steps like death.
While Maharashtra reported the highest number of domestic violence cases in 2010-11 of which economic abuse was the most rampant, followed by the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, a study has found. While Andhra reported higher number of physical abuse cases, Karnataka was evenly placed in cases of economic and physical abuse.
Maharashtra reported 2,433 cases of Domestic Violence against Women, followed by Andhra with 1,174 cases and Karnataka with 1,013 cases. Madhya Pradesh (882) and Kerala (631) followed. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has debuted there name in this list too.
The State of Jammu & Kashmir yet again witnessed a Brutal and inhuman crime against women and this time from the district of Poonch, village Mendhar. The victim namely Tazeem Akhtar D/0 Mohd. Bashir hailing from Sagra-Tehsil Mendhar Poonch was married to one Ghulam Rasool. According to Mohd.Razaaq brother of victim Gh. Rasool was working in Saudi Arab and had married to other girl from Mumbai. The victim was living with her in-laws in Mendhar Poonch. According to the brother of the victim, the deceased Tazeem Akhtar always complained of harassment and exploitation from her father-in-law to him. The family of the deceased even tried to intervene in the matter but after intervention the deceased used to be threatened of dire consequences if she will disclose to her family about the harassment. The mlimit of exploitation reached to its end when the deceased tried to unveil the behavior of her in-laws to her father.On the intervening night of 23-24 April 2012, the parents of the deceased tried to contact her but her in-laws didn’t allowed them. Felling some suspiciousness the brother of the deceased along with her father went to her in-laws, but ended up when they found the dead body of their daughter. While talking to the Kashmir scenario the father of the deceased said, “I cannot forget that night. My daughter has always been a strong girl and she could never give up her life like this” According to medical reports the alleged cause of death has been stated by Burns under suspicious conditions. The medical report also states, “As the visceral of the deceased are taken for FSL (for chemical analysis) to rule out any poisoning the cause of death is kept reserved.
The family of the deceased alleged certain members of the family of harassing the deceased and later committing murder by burning her down. Turning down such allegation leveled against him, Mohd. Shafi Father-in-law of the deceased stated that she committed suicide by burning herself. Meanwhile The family of the deceased also presented a representation to the Minister for Home, Nasir Aslam Wani since the concerned Police station, Mendhar failed to log an FIR against the alleged accused but after the intervention from senior police official a FIR (No: 158/2012) was registered. However according to family of victim the FIR has been lodged against the deceased’s husband who is in Saudi from last 10 months and her second wife, while the main culprits are freely moving under the grab of influence.
However the family of the deceased contacted the office of The Kashmir Scenario where from they were sent to the Women’s Commission to file a complaint and the matter is still to be taken up by the Commission.
The incident of Tazeem Akhtar has also raised questions on the credibility of the State Government who have failed to implement Punishment for Dowry Death, since the same is provided under Section 304-B of the IPC. But there is no such provision under the Ranbir Penal Code. The incident has also raised question on the Police Administration who have completely failed to log an F.I.R against the alleged accused persons and have shown that Action under suo-moto by the police happens in rare cases and without any influence from higher authorities the police doesn’t take action against such brutal violence against Women.