Vismaya Case: Husband Surrenders, Social Media Says ‘Divorced Daughter Better Than Dead Daughter’
We as a society take comfort in feeling that we’ve become modern and have ditched the patriarchy. But the truth of the matter is that we have hardly moved an inch towards get rid of centuries old customs and traditions, especially when they favour us, like dowry. Our society still follows the old customs of dowry, the only difference being that we call them ‘gifts’ now. There are new cases of dowry harassment being filed every day. Some of them don’t even see the light of day. Women in these households face domestic abuse and are left helpless. There are very few women who fight the abuse and become survivors, rest die of the abuse – silencing their voice forever.
In one of the most recent cases of dowry harassment, a 24-year-old Vismaya from Kerala was found dead on 21st June. The family of the woman has accused the husband, Kiran Kumar, of assaulting her over dowry-related issues and they believe that her death was a murder and not suicide.
She was a final year Ayurveda student. We need to teach our daughters that divorce isn’t a tragedy. Staying in an unhappy abusive marriage is the actual tragedy. So sorry you couldn’t find support when needed #Vismaya https://t.co/hGibzYwp1s
— Avenoir (@Adihyderabadi) June 22, 2021
The police arrested Kiran on the morning of 22nd June and charged him under 408A (criminal breach of trust) and 304B ( dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code. The officers investigating the case said that more sections will be added to his charge once the post-mortem reports of Vismaya are out.
According to the reports and statements, Vismaya had sent her cousin messages wherein she has confirmed and confessed to having been facing brutal domestic assault from her husband because of her dowry. Her messages to her cousin revealed that during one of the assaults Vismaya was pulled back by her hair and then Kiran had stamped on her face. She also confesses that she has not told anyone about these frequent attacks. Vismaya had also sent her cousin pictures of herself that clearly show injuries on her face, shoulder, and hands.
The police had registered the case after Vismaya’s death and as of now her husband who is an official at the Motor Vehicle Department is being questioned. Sooranad police have also decided to question other members who were involved in the case to get a clearer picture.
Vismaya’s family revealed that they had given Kiran an acre of land, 100 sovereigns of gold, and a Toyota Yaris car as dowry. But Kiran didn’t like the mileage that the car gave and hence demanded cash instead. The family also revealed an incident, where Kiran had hit Vismaya in front of her entire family and then was taken to the police station. The police then suggested a compromise instead of registering a case and Vismaya stayed back at her own house instead of going along with Kiran. It was three months ago that Kiran had taken her back home after which she had stopped being in contact with her father and brother.
The mother was informed about the assaults and abuses she had faced in those three months with Kiran, all due to dowry. Sajitha, Vismaya’s mother, had also taken to the media to reveal that Kiran’s attack had been so brutal once, that Vismaya’s mouth had started to bleed.
A divorced daughter or divorced son is better than a DEAD DAUGHTER or a DEAD SON @narendramodi @RahulGandhi
??Abolish Alimony & Maintenance
??Legalize Prenuptials, Contracts & Shared Parenting@AmitShah @rsprasad @JPNadda @Swamy39 @swati_gs @smritiirani pic.twitter.com/0RW42c7XzI— Laxmi Ramaswamy (@ladyofequality) June 22, 2021
Apparently, the mother had spoken to Vismaya about the violence and Vismaya had said that she would endure the abuse because she was afraid of what people would say about a divorced woman. Why her mother was comfortable when her child was getting brutally beaten up is beyond us. Why women should be told to endure torture for not getting enough dowry is unfathomable to us.
We hope Vismaya’s dowry case comes to an end where the people behind this are punished.
