Before dying, Kalu (27), Mamta Meena (22) and Kamlesh (20) left a message blaming their husband’s family.
After several days of disappearance, the Kalu sisters, Mamta Meena and Kamlesh were found dead in a well in India. Married with three brothers, her death shows dowry related violenceAn illegal but entrenched practice.
Before dying, the victims left a message blaming the families of their husbands with whom they had an affair. dispute over large sums of money That many Indian parents often pay for the wedding of their daughters.
Kalu (27 years), Mamta (22) and Kamlesh (20) met last month in Dudu, a village in Rajasthan region (West), where they lived in the same house, Persistent victim of abuse by her husband and relativesReassures his family.
let’s die together because it’s better than dying every day
His body was not alone. He also rested inaction Kalu has two children, a four-year-old boy and a four-week-old boy., While the other two sisters were pregnant.
Shortly before he died, the youngest, Kamlesh, I sent an alleging WhatsApp message: “Our in-laws are behind our five deaths.”
“We don’t want to die, but death is better than being abused (…) We’re going to die together because it’s better than dying every day.”
Four days after finding him, his father, Sardar Meena, his wife, their eldest son and their three other daughters mourn under the portraits of the deceased on the steps of the humble family home in Chhapya, a village near Dudu.
Police are treating the investigation as a suicide Until the autopsy arrived, an official from the nearby city of Jaipur told AFP. But Meena has been accusing her son-in-law of misbehavior and moral harassment for years.
illegal but frozen practice
Kalu was admitted to the hospital in April after being beaten up by her husband and family.
Dowry seekers are not good people (…) This is not human
The father says, “My daughters faced violence and came here. But despite the violence, she said that she had to return to her in-laws’ house and returned with her husband.
Since divorce is considered a slander in most parts of India, Meena used to let them go and thus save the honor of her family.
The deceased’s sister Sonu agrees, “She was so abused.”
According to the father, one of the main The disdain from her in-laws was the meager dowry paid by her, “Those who ask for dowry are not good people (…) It is not human,” he says.
The practice of dowry is prohibited by law for more than 60 years in India, but this custom is deeply rooted and is still very much alive.
TV, refrigerator, furniture… “We’ve already given them a lot,” says the father. “I’m a father of six daughters, there are limits to what I can do,” he says.
“I gave them an education, which is already difficult,” he says proudly showing his college meetSo it is useless for the girls because their husbands forbade them to continue their studies and work.
after the facts, Police arrested the victim’s husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law For dowry related harassment and marital violence.
Nearly 7,000 murders in 2020
They are not unique cases. The local press frequently reports marital violence and dowry disputes.
Last year, a man from the southern state of Kerala was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife with a cobra bite, after already receiving a new car and more than $6,000 to confiscate her property. .
Last week, a court in the same region sentenced a man to ten years in prison for abetting his wife to commit suicide by harassing her for dowry.
Data from the National Criminal Archives Office indicates that nearly 7,000 women were murdered and 1,700 committed suicide in 2020 for this case.,
Father: “I gave him an education, which is already difficult,” he says proudly showing his college meet
A national study of family health indicates that 30% of married women have been the victim of physical or sexual violence in marriage. And feminist activists believe this is only the tip of the iceberg.
“Every hour, 30 to 40 women are victims of domestic violence,” Kavita Srivastava of PUCL Human Rights Defense Organization told AFP. Noting that these figures are based on complaints lodged with the police.
For him, the root problem is the social apathy towards marital violence in India: “So much resignation is very worrying”.
“If a single woman has to commit suicide because her married life is the end of the road, I think the Indian state has failed these women,” he says.
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