Girl child equality still a long way off, says Calcutta HC

Kolkata: While we rejoice over our daughters' victory in the Women's Cricket World Cup, complete equality for the girl child is still a long way off, the Calcutta High Court observed on Feb 6, while overturning a trial court's decision to discharge the in-laws of a woman who killed her 1.5-year-old daughter and died by suicide after allegedly being asked to pay Rs 5 lakh for giving birth to a girl.Justice Apurba Sinha Ray held: "Although we are happy and indeed, rejoicing that our daughters won the World Cup in cricket recently, and they are also making remarkable achievements in different fields, the passing away of Rudrika at the age of 1.5 years reminds us that we still have to go a long way to achieve complete equality for our girl children."
"This court is reminded of the celebrated proverbial passage quoted in Justice Krishna Iyer's Essays in ‘Random Reflections': ‘No society is free until the last damsel in distress is free.'"The case relates to Bhawna Sharma, who married Neeraj Sharma, a Navy officer, in 2018 and moved to the Andamans. But according to her relatives' testimony, she did not stay there continuously.After a few months, she returned to her matrimonial home in Pathankot, where her parents-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law allegedly tortured her. After Bhawna gave birth to a girl, her in-laws allegedly taunted her and demanded Rs 5 lakh from her father and drove her out of the house. Bhawna returned to her parents' home. Later, her father managed to pay Rs 1 lakh, but the torture allegedly continued.On May 4, 2021, Neeraj took Bhawna and their child to the Andamans. On July 8, 2021, Bhawna locked herself inside a room, killed the child and then hanged herself. Neeraj and neighbours broke open the door. A neighbour filed a murder complaint against an unknown person. Later, Bhawna's father lodged a complaint at Pahargaon police station against Neeraj and four in-laws.Charges were framed under Section 498A (cruelty) and 304B (dowry death). The trial judge discharged the in-laws, reasoning that the couple had been living in the Andamans, far from the in-laws. Only Neeraj was charged. But Justice Ray set this aside, stating the sessions judge had failed to consider witnesses' statements "in their proper perspective".The state challenged the discharge order before the Calcutta High Court's Port Blair circuit bench, arguing that Bhawna was subjected to physical and mental cruelty that compelled her to kill herself and her baby.Counsel for the discharged in-laws argued there had been a serious altercation between husband and wife, calling Bhawna's actions evidence of "how cruel a mother can be".Justice Ray responded: "Argument was advanced regarding the cruel nature of the deceased Bhawna, who strangulated her own child before her suicide. But whether it was her cruel nature or the compulsion resulting from not having a male child — beyond the wish of God — that swayed her decision ultimately to kill not only herself but also her girl child, who was looked down upon, is a subject matter of evidence."