INDIAN ROMANCE - THE STORY OF EZAZ AND ILLIYAS DAUGHTER

A bridegroom and his family were beaten up for raising their dowry demand from the bride’s father a day after the wedding day. As soon as they came to know about the unreasonable demand, residents of Badarpur village, about 20 km away from Nuh in Haryana, on Saturday night forced the groom to divorce his wife even before the ‘bidaai’ as he did not ‘‘deserve her’’.




Sources said Ezaz Khan of Akera village, who studies in Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi, reached Badarpur on Saturday to marry the daughter of Illiyas, a landlord. Everything was fine and nikaah was performed with all pomp and show. However, when the time came for ‘bidaai’ and Illiyas went to hand over the key of Maruti Alto to the bridegroom, he refused to take it. Ezaz said he would not accept anything less than a Scorpio and Rs 15 lakh in cash. The bridegroom and his father were not only beaten black and blue by the villagers, but they also took 25 baraatis hostage and tonsured heads of Ezaz and his father. Later in the night, a village panchayat was called and it pronounced the decision that the family of Ezaz would have to pay Rs 8 lakh — the money spent by the girl’s family since engagement — if they wanted to get released. Left with no option, Khurshid
Khan, Ezaz’s father agreed to pay the money. They were released on Sunday. Meanwhile, the police chose to keep away from the spot. A senior police officer defended the move saying that in cases like this, panchayat takes its own decision. Illiyas, while upset over the way things went, said he was also happy that his girl was saved from going into a greedy family. He said: ‘‘We agreed to the marriage only because the boy is studying in a reputed institute in Delhi. But I will rather marry my daughter off to someone illiterate.’’ The region, predominated by Meo-Muslims, has a high rate of illiteracy and poverty. Residents said some families in the area had started using dowry as a means to get money. They said that these families sent their boys to study in Delhi and then sought lakhs in dowry. ‘‘Landlords are willing to shell out big sums for an educated son-in-law, but this is a bad trend,’’ said Mehtab Alam, a villager.

INDIAN ROMANCE VIII

Seven people were arrested in Bhiwani Deswai on Thursday, being suspected to be involved in the lynching of 2 teenage girls on Diwali (that was two weeks ago) Murdered because they met some boys outside the village and the boys might have belonged to an upper caste.For family honour they had to get killed.
The father of one of the girls belongs to the arrest.

INDIAN ROMANCE VIII

Slapping and Beating

According to the newest National Family Health Survey – III interviewing 125,000 women in 28 of the Indian States in the period of 2005-2006 find out that , 41 % of all the interviewed women justified wife- beating if it was because they showed disrespect towards their in-laws while 35 % agreed with being brutally assaulted by their husbands if they neglected the households or their children.
Almost in all states the victims don’t feel victimized, both in the case of dowry or spousal violence. They feel being beating up by the husband is all right.
Bihar was found the worst state with abuse rates as high as 59%. Bihar was followed by Rajasthan 46,3 %. Etc
Most of the women assaulted by their husbands were less than 2 years in the marriage. Slapping was the most common act of physical violence by husbands. More than 35 % in general said their husbands slapped them, while 15 % said their husbands pulled their hair or twisted their arm. And now very amazing at least for me: Buddhist woman reported the highest level of violence (41%). Followed by Muslim and Hindu woman with 34-35 %. Women of the Jain community reported the lowest rate of violence (13%)

The cartoon above is from Ann Telnaes, Ann Telnaes Womens eNews Cartoons, http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/bysubject/womensrights/byartist.php?id=70&p=3

INDIAN ROMANCE VIII

Conservative Rajkot went into convulsions on Wednesday when alleged mental and physical abuse by her husband's family drove a 22-year-old woman to strip to her underwear and walk through the city in protest.

Pooja Chauhan said she had taken to this unique protest after being constantly harassed for not bringing dowry and bearing a girl-child.

The effect was immediate. The police arrested her husband Pratapsinh Chauhan, parents-in-law and neighbours Veji Bharwad and Vinu Dalit on Wednesday, after she threatened to scale up her protest and march nude to the police commissioner's office if she did not get justice.

"The arrests were made on the basis of Pooja Chauhan's complaint. We are also planning to take action against Pooja for indecent behaviour in a public place. However, we will examine her mental condition before taking any action," said Rajkot police commissioner K Nityanandam.

Residents in the busy thoroughfares of Race Course Road and Yagnik Road were left gaping in shock on Tuesday evening as Pooja walked in her inner-wear, wielding a baseball bat and bangles, headed for the police commissioner's office.

She walked for about an hour and went home later as the police commissioner was out of station.

Police sources said Pooja had a love marriage with Pratapsinh, a resident of Gandhigram area, about three years ago, but her in-laws kept harassing her for dowry. The harassment increased when she gave birth to a daughter eight months ago. She finally left home five months ago and has been living on her own with her daughter, Anjali.

Sources said police inaction on her complaints had driven her to stage such a protest. "When her complaint against her in-laws failed to evoke any response, she tried to immolate herself at the office of the police commissioner last Friday but police personnel stopped her," said a source in the commissionerate