Kanta Chauhan
killed herself in July 2006. She was 26, and pregnant. She had been
harassed for dowry by her husband, Hemant, and in-laws for the two years
that she had been married. Arguments over dowry were a common occurrence
in this household in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Unable to endure the trauma
any longer, the young woman hanged herself in her bedroom while her
husband was at work. He was arrested promptly.
Beena Saktawat, a young woman, died of burns under suspicious
circumstances in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, in December
2006. The police registered a case against her husband for allegedly
instigating his wife to commit suicide as a result of his incessant
demands for dowry. Investigations by the police, the medico-legal
reports as well as statements made by Beena's relatives established that
her death was not accidental.
According to recently-released data of the National Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB), a total of 2,276 female suicides as a consequence of dowry
disputes were reported in 2006. The numbers can be translated as around
six dowry deaths a day over one year. The figures were 2,305 and 2,585
in 2005 and 2004, respectively.
Ironically, India has a number of laws intended to protect women from
marital violence, abuse and extortionist dowry demands. The Dowry
Prohibition Act, 1961, prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of
dowry, "as consideration for the marriage". Dowry is defined as a gift
demanded or given as a precondition for a marriage. According to the
Act, the giving or taking or abetting the giving or taking of dowry is a
punishable offence. However, gifts given without a precondition are not
considered dowry, and are legal.
Then, there is also the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
2005, whose Section 5 defines domestic violence as those acts that
harass, harm, injure or endanger the aggrieved person with a view to
coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful
demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security.
While there does seem to be a marginal decline in dowry deaths across
the country, Madhya Pradesh continued to top the national list for the
fourth time running with 585 cases - accounting for around one-fourth of
the total number of such incidents.
Situated in the heart of India, the state of Madhya Pradesh is fast
becoming famous for the wrong reasons. In addition to tipping the scales
in the number of dowry-related suicides, the state has witnessed one of
the most ghastly killings - again related to dowry. Bhoomi Ramchandani,
19, was married to a businessman in Indore. In September 2006, her body
was found, chopped into pieces and placed in two bundles near the
jogging track of a popular park in the city. The ghastly incident was
brought to light when neighboring residents found the mutilated body and
notified the police.
As suspected, the guilty were her parents-in-law, Dhanwantari and
Jamnadas, and their son and Bhoomi's husband, Manoj. Speaking up in her
defense, Dhanwantari was reported to have said that her daughter-in-law
would never listen to her and that there were constant arguments between
the two. The real motive, it emerged, for the gruesome murder was dowry.
But what is the reason behind the increasing number of such cases in
Madhya Pradesh, a state known for its large tribal population that
accords its women with respect? Vijay Pathak, a social worker, believes
that the influx of people from other cities is certainly one of the
causes for the rising number of dowry deaths. Another reason for the
increase in such incidents is the slow rate of conviction.
In 2004, disgusted by the trend of dowry, the priests in Chhatarpur
district had united against the social evil and resolved not to
solemnize any marriage in which a dowry demand had been made.
Unfortunately, all priests in the state did not comply with the decision
and the initiative did not grow into a movement.
Pramod Soni, a sociologist, believes that people's urge to become rich
effortlessly has resulted in the increasing demands for dowry.
Pressurizing a bride's family seems the easiest way to make easy money,
as it is felt that people are ready to do anything for the sake of their
daughters. Either the bride endures the trauma or urges her family to
give in or, in extreme circumstances, eventually takes her life when
neither she nor her family can tolerate any further harassment, he
explains.
Not that a suicide prevents the guilty groom from seeking another match
or rather another chance of acquiring easy wealth. Says Asha Mishra,
National Coordinator of Samta, an NGO that works among women across 22
states of the country, "The biggest problem the girl's family members
face is that they have to prove that the girl has been murdered and
that, too, for the sake of dowry. In most of the cases, they are unable
to prove the crime due to the collusion between the police and the boy's
family."
Further, lengthy judicial procedures are often demoralizing, restricting
family of victims from getting justice.
What may help counter the many obstacles a harassed woman and her family
may face in the pursuit of justice, are the Family Counseling Centers,
located in the Mahila Thanas (women-only police stations) and set up by
the state in order to resolve marital disputes.
Alternatively, if a woman is unable to get to such a centre, she could
lodge a complaint by dialing 100 and asking for the Women's Help Desk.
Each of the 38 districts of the state has one such help desk functioning
out of a prominent police station. Once the telephone report is
registered, trained counsellors, available round-the-clock, swing into
action to solve the problem.
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