Leader Writer: Shobaraj Yumlembam
In recent circumstances and occurrence, reports trickle in about women committing suicide followed by allegations against someone by the deceased’s family for the cause of the extreme step. The news of such incidents has been published in the newspapers so often nowadays that the readers would have memorized the writing format of such news reports. The only effort they can make in reading such news to save time is to change the date of incident, names and addresses of those involved in it. When such incident occurs, first the victim’s family will either call a press conference or send out press statements alleging someone’s responsibility for the cause of death and then this ‘someone’ will adopt the same procedure of informing the media and deny the charge being made.
Following the suicide of a married woman of Samram Makha Leikai, Thoubal by consuming poison in the evening of May 25 last, her mother addressed media persons and alleged that she committed suicide as she could no longer bear the torture of her husband. Her daughter`s husband, she said had an extramarital affair and often beat up her daughter after being drunk telling her to leave the house. The mother had alleged and lamented that her daughter had told her that she do not want to go back to her marital home as she could not bear the tortures of her husband. Contrary to the claims of the dead woman’s mother that her daughter’s husband, Ningthoujam Surjit, a Village Defence Force personnel posted at Tentha post was having an extra marital affair which provoked her daughter to take the extreme step; the husband made the counter charge that it was his deceased wife who was the one having an extra-marital affair. He also said the mother’s charges of him leading an adulterous life are baseless and unfounded.
Here, it is a known fact that in an argument no one likes to admit that he is guilty. When both the opponents deny the charges on them, it is certain that no one on earth would know the cause of the incident except the deceased.
In much a similar turn of events, another husband also denied the charge on him of torturing his wife resulting into the suicide of a woman of Nongpok Sekmai Makha Leikai on June 4, 2013 stating that he is a teetoteller and never fights with her, and also pointing out that the post mortem report did not show any sign of torture. However, nothing happens without a cause and any normal person will not commit suicide without any reason. The reason for the extreme step usually accompanies a prolonged depression suffered by the victim. The state has witnessed similar other cases like hanging or burning oneself to dead since long. Cases of missing persons often turn out to be cases of married woman and is a common news item and or advertisements a that is more frequently published in local newspapers here. Cases of hanging of married women usually comes with the allegation of the victim’s family stating that their daughter is first murdered and make up the hanging scene. In the rush for addressing media, families often do not take the route of filing FIRs and taking up cases. We are yet to hear of any cases where people have been arrested on charge of abetting suicide which is punishable by law.
Civil Society Organizations working for the cause of women and the State women’ commission are doing their part in whatever possible ways to achieve women empowerment and to eliminate domestic violence, crime against women, trafficking, rape and murder etc by spreading awareness to people from time to time and even investigating the crimes in order to help in delivering justice to the victims. Counselling of the survivors of such cases and incidents are also being taken up. But till date, there is no long term process or support systems for engaging with various stakeholders in the society who can play a part in reducing crimes against women.