Domestic violence cases down in Old City, really?

HYDERABAD: Deciding that she had had enough and would no longer endure the harassment meted out to her at home, Fazia (name changed) walked into the Charminar police station on Wednesday morning to lodge a complaint. The inspector, launching into Urdu couplets in a bid to pacify the agitated woman, simply took her letter, slipped it into the drawer and shut it.
So why was a domestic violence case not registered? Going by this example, with the cop choosing shayari to “enforce” the Domestic Violence Act, the number of cases filed under this Act that was meant to empower women have hit a plateau.
Take for instance the number of domestic harassment cases pertaining to dowry filed at the women’s police station near the high court. In 2009, 319 cases were filed here, 2010 recorded 414 and 415 in 2011. At the Charminar police station, just one case of domestic harassment was recorded last year.
But the statistics clearly do not tell the true story of domestic violence in the Old City. With the police having stopped “registering” cases against men, taking the counselling route instead and explaining that marital disputes are best settled amicably, the inadvertent side effect has been that men harassing their wives are going scot free. “The police only want to show that the number of domestic violence cases filed has gone down. But then, they do not even take the responsibility of making the man commit on a stamp paper that such instances will not be repeated,” said activist Jamila Nishat, questioning the method being followed by the South Zone police. The police do not even keep a track of the case, alleges Nishat.
Grassroot workers in the Old City narrate how domestic violence has not come down even marginally in the last few years. “There are women’s groups operative in the Old City who ostensibly work for women welfare but often convince the women to withdraw complaints and visit the counselling centre,” says Nausheen, an activist with Mahita, that works with adolescent girls and other women’s issues in the Old City. Activists note that counselling is in no way helping contain domestic violence. Activists also allege that the stress on “counselling” is largely to show the counselling centres in the pink of health.
In fact, counsellors admit to rising number of domestic violence cases, many related to dowry but at the same time state that they do not book cases. “A lot of men marry for dowry and go abroad with that money. After that they do not come back and marry in another country. Then there are husbands who come home drunk and beat up wives,” says inspector Madhavilata, at the Purani Haveli family counselling centre. However, her counselling sessions revolve around the “woman’s fault” for not being able to adjust with her husband. Madhavilata even shares how she counsels women against bringing their private life to the public sphere. She rarely finds fault with the husband but blames poverty and population as the culprits. “These are issues of minor misunderstanding and a counselling session brings them back to track,” she says.
Shyam Babu, inspector at Charminar police station further explains, “These women usually come in an agitated state of mind. Filing a case based on their complaint has often proved worrisome, because the same women come back after a day demanding their husband’s freedom. Instead, I make them write a complaint which I keep away and use my discretion to understand whether a case needs to be filed.” So he chooses to ignore even Fazia’s letter since he believes counselling has more power than the law.
The police maintain that they are on the right track. DCP Manish Kumar Sinha says that as many as 95 per cent of domestic violence cases go to the family counselling centre at Purani Haveli.
“Arresting an erring husband is as much a crime against society because the family is thrown into unforeseen legal harassment (read expense),” says an inspector who feels that his duty is to first stop such ‘crime against society’ before what is seen as crime in the eyes of law. “After all, these are only cases of maladjustments,” is surprisingly the final verdict of an inspector in the Old City.
As Old City women continue to suffer, albeit vocal about their issues, the law binding force here tries various means of consolation through their ‘love and affection’ leaving these women guilty of ‘maladjustment’ with no one to blame but themselves. So much so for celebrating International Women’s Day.