Hyderabad: The last two weeks of November were extremely torturous for 27-year-old doctor B. Bhavani, who committed suicide on November 31. Her husband B. Prithviraj, also a doctor, had been beating her frequently and causing physical and mental agony. He had been pressurising her to sell a land owned by her father in Warangal, so that he could buy a house in Hyderabad. When she ignored his demand, he would beat her and abuse her.
Two and half years into the marriage, Dr Bhavani had been facing insult from her husband and in-laws for the last few months. She had also called her elder sister Ms Swati and complained about the physical assault and said she wanted a divorce.
Elders from her family interceded and tried to solve the issue. But the issue was far from over. On November 31, after being humiliated by her husband, Dr Bhavani went to her room, locked the door, and hanged herself from the ceiling.
“She wanted a divorce, but her younger sister’s wedding was fixed in the middle of November. Since her divorce plan might affect her sister’s wedding, the elders tried to solve the matter. But after her sister’s wedding, her husband became more violent,” said a relative of Dr Bhavani.
She had completed her MBBS from China and was working at Aditya Hospital in Uppal where her husband also worked earlier.
“We had given dowry of Rs 5 lakh, 100 gm gold and 500 gm silver. But her husband kept on insisting for more money,” said Ms Swati. Charged of dowry death, Dr Prithviraj is now in custody. The Malkajgiri police has procured witnesses against him and has sent him to judicial remand.
Like Dr Bhavani, five women on an average die in Telangana every week due to dowry harassment. The deaths are spread across all strata of society. In the last 10 days alone, two highly educated women, a software engineer and a medical doctor, ended their lives due to dowry harassment in Hyderabad.
87% dowry death cases stuck in courts
Laws prohibiting dowry and dowry harassment have not shown desirable results in the state. Despite it is being illegal to give or take dowry under dowry prohibition act (1969), the practice is still very much prevalent in all sections of society. Criminal justice experts say that the perpetrators in dowry related cases do not worry about conviction because judiciary will take years to issue verdict on the cases.
According to National Crime Records Bureau, 87 per cent of the dowry deaths in the country are pending in courts as each year passes by. More than 83 per cent of the cases registered under Dowry Prohibition Act are pending trial. There is one relatively new law that can protect women from harassment or dowry related suicides; Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which assures special protection for the victims.
“According to this law, any woman, who approaches the police or court to complain harassment of in laws and husband, should be given protection. Effective implementation of this Act can save several women on the verge of suicide,” said V. Padmavati, in charge of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and Chairman of Child Welfare Committee. Strangely, TS police have booked just one case in the 2014 under this law.
Officials admit that the state is yet to implement this law effectively. As per the Act, the state government shall appoint a number of Protection Officers in each district for the purpose of saving victims from domestic violence. However, most of the districts in TS do not have such officers. The police also do not book a case under this section, but generally chose 498A if the matter is really serious.
Officials say that the reluctance of victims to come forward and lodge complaint also caused reduction in number of such cases. “Women fear that if they go to police, all doors to their marital life will be closed,” said Ms. Padmavati.
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