This Man From Andhra Pradesh Was Arrested For Hitting His Wife With A Dumbbell. The Police Only Acted After The Victims Made A Video Of The Attack

What would you do if your partner was an abusive drunk? Would you give him countless chances or would you remove yourself from the situation as soon as possible? Of course, in this moment most of us would pick the latter option. That’s because it’s not happening to us right now, it’s just a hypothetical. However, there are several thousand women for whom this is reality. They are being subjected to violence in their very homes at the hands of their partners. Earlier, I would ask myself, why don’t they just move out and start afresh? It seems like the ideal solution. But after reading about so many cases I understand that it’s not ever that simple.  

There are too many factors for them to consider. For instance, their children or what will happen if their abusive partner catches them. But the one prevailing factor that really pisses me off is that it’s not easy for these women to get help because the authorities never take them seriously. Yes, it’s their job to keep us safe and out of harm’s way but in most cases, it’s the police that tells a woman to go back to her abusive husband and give him another chance. And obviously that only encourages the abuser. Why do the police do that? My guess is as good as yours. Maybe it’s because they don’t take the word of women seriously in general or they are just trying to make their own life easier. I am not sure which is worse. 

That is precisely what happened in the brutal domestic violence case we are discussing today. But we will come to that. Let’s start at the beginning.  

Andhra man who battered wife with dumbbell arrested, but only after kids recorded video https://t.co/jpcrnOovEL

— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) September 13, 2020

A man in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district has been accused of abusing his wife and daughters for the past few months. He was arrested after his daughters made a video of him hitting his wife on the head, with a dumbbell. 

The man works for the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) and according to his daughter, he would get drunk every day and misbehave with them and their mother. She further alleged that her father would sexually abuse their mother and watch pornography in front of kids. He would also pass perverted comments when his daughter’s friends would come to their house. 

This is extremely sickening. What kind of a man behaves like this with anyone, let alone his family? It’s honestly more heartbreaking than anything. 

Further, his daughters said that they made multiple complaints about him to the local police station but there was never any avail. The police never took their complaints seriously. So in an attempt to gather evidence, they recorded their father’s behaviour on 4th September. They caught him hitting his wife with a dumbbell on camera and then, the police had no choice but to file their complaint. 

The daughter said, “We were exhausted. Our father would regularly come home after drinking and kept fighting with us, sexually harassing and abusing us. Every time we would approach the police at the Indrapalem police station asking for action against him, the police would ask us to compromise and tell us to excuse him this one time.” Adding, “As they (the police) never bothered (to take action), we were somehow adjusting, and keeping to ourselves. However, one day, he hit her with a dumbbell because she didn’t concede to his arguments and we all continued to argue with him.” 

Also Read: #Trending : This Woman Hosts Podcasts In Iran To Help Victims Of Domestic Abuse Seek Counselling. This Is Their Only Outlet

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFHWGtUB2ap/

After they presented the video as evidence to the police, the father went MIA. He was finally arrested for his gruesome crimes on 11 September. 

You know, as glad as I am that this horrid man was arrested I can’t help but be infuriated with the way the police handled this case. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive. Don’t the police officers have to collect evidence after they have filed a complaint? In this case, why were the victims being made to secure proof of their abuse? Why did the police wait for evidence before filing a report? Because of course, the women who are continuously filing complaints of abuse are lying. Why believe the women when they can just go around pretending that the male species can do no wrong? 

K Sudha, an advocate and the General Secretary of Human Rights Forum (HRF), said, “If they had acted when they complained, they would have prevented such a grave incident.” Further talking about how the underlying reason for not filing a complaint is due to a “lack of trust in the women victims, which is patriarchal conditioning”. 

The victims were asked to compromise and live with an abusive alcoholic who was making their lie hell. If the police would’ve done their job instead of playing the role of a really bad family counsellor, an innocent woman would not have been hit on the head with a dumbbell. This is really messed up and unacceptable. 

We need stricter laws against domestic violence. Especially since due to the lockdown, the cases are rapidly increasing. But before all that, we need policemen to be trained in such a manner that they do not dismiss women when they approach the station to complain about any form of abuse. 

This case is proof enough that we need reform.

https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/in-a-unique-initiative-victims-of-domestic-abuse-can-use-this-hand-gesture-to-ask-for-help-silently-without-alerting-the-perpetrator/