The Delhi High Court on April 20 had directed the central government, Delhi government and other authorities to convene a meeting at the highest level to consider the issue of protection of women against domestic violence during the current nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
The division bench of Justice JR Midha and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Centre, AAP government, Delhi Commission for Women among others on the petition in an hearing via video conferencing. The court has further directed for deliberations on what additional measures can be undertaken in order to curb the incidences of domestic violence as well as towards protection of the victims. They have been directed to file a status report before the next date of hearing.
On April 18, there was a tweet from a twitter handle registered as @GaPriyanka which posted:
My husband thrashed me , punched me and attempted to murder me on 12th April. He confined me for 4 days and snatched my valuables. Police helped me to rescue. My little twins are already there. Please help me in divorce and getting my kids.
My husband thrashed me , punched me and attempted to murder me on 12th April. He confined me for 4 days and snatched my valuables. Police helped me to rescue. My little twins are already there. Please help me in divorce and getting my kids. @SwatiJaiHind
— Priyanka Garg (@GaPriyanka) April 19, 2020
On April 19, the woman also posted similar tweets marking UP Police and UP Chief Minister. In another tweet, the she wrote,
My husband, tried to kill me for dowry, thrashed, punched , strangled me, confined me in house for 4 days , took my valuables, police rescued me but no FIR being lodged, please help me to lodge FIR & my security.
My husband, tried to kill me for dowry, thrashed, punched , strangled me, confined me in house for 4 days , took my valuables, police rescued me but no FIR being lodged, please help me to lodge FIR & my security.@SspGhaziabad @112UttarPradesh @CMOfficeUP
— Priyanka Garg (@GaPriyanka) April 18, 2020
Is there no one to listen, when a mother is in pain and is seeking help. How much difficult it is to stay away from the kids.
Is there no one to listen, when a mother is in pain and is seeking help. How much difficult it is to stay away from the kids. https://t.co/6KhE1tMCG1
— Priyanka Garg (@GaPriyanka) April 19, 2020
Why is it so difficult to fight against bad deed in India? Why is life so cheap in India that no one is listening when someone is seeking help
My husband thrashed me , punched me and attempted to murder me on 12th April. He confined me for 4 days and snatched my valuables. Police helped me to rescue. My little twins are already there. Please help me in divorce and getting my kids. @SwatiJaiHind
— Priyanka Garg (@GaPriyanka) April 19, 2020
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@sharmarekha @NCWIndia Ma’am can you help with this urgently please?
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) April 20, 2020
Sharma shared the helpline number run by NCW for women facing domestic abuse and asked the activist to share the alleged victim’s details.
@MasalaBai Ji Kindly share details. pic.twitter.com/w1OwvqWncB
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) April 20, 2020
While no one can question the response and intent of NCW in their effort to assist any woman who reaches out for help, Men’s Day Out was one of the first to reply to the alleged victim stating,
We are not judging you ma’am, but the fact remains that you will get sympathy and hearing from several forums basis your one sided story.
@narendramodi sir, should Men be picked up on mere word of women? If so, lets close every single family court in India #MenToo#lockdown
We are not judging you ma’am, but the fact remains that you will get sympathy and hearing from several forums basis your one sided story.@narendramodi sir, should Men be picked up on mere word of women? If so, lets close every single family court in India#MenToo #lockdown
— Men’s Day Out (@MensDayOutIndia) April 20, 2020
Several twitter users were prompt to declare the man as evil and also debated how women in India are facing domestic abuse much more during lockdown. Since we always believe in projecting both sides of the coin, we reached out to the husband of the lady concerned and below are his side of the facts. Since the wife has gone public with her version, it is only fair to put of the husband’s part as well. Read below:
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We have been married for past 8-years and have twin sons aged six. My wife hailed from a family of four sisters with no parents, whereas I was always brought up in a joint family. She has been a working woman and currently employed with an IT firm.
My father passed away in October last year, post which my wife’s behaviour has changed immensely. In all these years, we have always had our on and offs fights but things were going on. My younger brother got married in February this year and as the eldest man in the family, I ensured the best marriage for him. My wife taunted me constantly for splurging on the marriage for my own brother.
Recently we have shifted to our new home from Indirapuram to Ghaziabad, where my wife is very much a co-owner. Off lately, I found her to be constantly chatting over the phone, sometimes even until 2am while we were asleep.
Between March 30 and April 2, I received messages on Facebook messenger from a lady, who alerted me that her husband was having an affair with my wife. She also asked me to take care of the matter since there were problems in her marital life. When I confronted Priyanka the next day, she got abusive at me and we had a cold war for next few days. My wife has access to every single password of mine, be it bank accounts or social media accounts, but when I asked her to keep her phone unlocked, she agitated and got furious.
Since she was working from home during lockdown, my mother would cook for 5 days of the week. On Sunday April 12, my mother politely said she won’t be able to cook that evening and asked my wife to do so, to which she refused. The same evening, she was again chatting over the phone, when I snatched her mobile to check whom she was chatting with. This is when she started hurling abuses at me, and my mother entered our room hearing the fight.
I instantly asked my mother to leave, which is when my wife slapped me hard in front of her. In a fit of rage, I too slapped her back, which was more of a retaliation of her physical attack.
From April 12 to April 17, we were not talking to each other, but both of us were eating and living peacefully under the same roof. However, on 17th evening at about 3.30pm, we had 8-10 policemen who came to our home, including lady police.
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To be honest, they first heard her side and later also heard me out. They asked us to sort out the matter since it was not a major issue and things could have been resolved by talking it out. They also asked my wife if she felt I was cheating on her, to which she denied.
My wife insisted she did not want to live in our home anymore and left with the police. After around 5pm, we had 4-5 men coming to our home and physically verbally abusing me and my mother. My contractor who had come to collect his pending payment intervened and ushered the goons out. I also called the same police officer who had come to our home, but since the police station in Ghaziabad was declared a COVID hotspot, he asked me to file an e-FIR. I have a copy of the same.
On April 18, my wife starting posting stories of domestic violence on several social media forums, since when I started getting numerous calls from women NGOs — I don’t even know who called from where. However, one NGO genuinely claimed that they wanted to settle the matter where the parties could resolve the problem and get back together.
In the interim, the husband claims, he has been receiving calls from a number registered in Hongkong, threatening him to take back his wife or face consequences. He continues,
On April 23, my wife called me asking me to bring her back home. I informed her that since she had taken the legal route by summoning the police, it would be better she takes all legal help henceforth as he did not want to face any false charges again.
She then confronted me how I came to know of her affair and when I informed her that the wife of her alleged paramour had reached out to me, she negated the information and rubbished it off saying, it was that woman instead who insisted that I speak to her husband often. She also said that she spoke to many other men casually, and that doesn’t mean she was dating all of them.
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My wife also said that someone was impersonating her on those alleged chats with another man. To this, I asked her to file complain with cyber cell and come clean. She did not reply.
Later, she asked me to send our kids to her if I was not interested in bringing her back. I have told her to get official custody from court now. To this, she once again changed her colours and abused me, abruptly hanging up on the call.
I also reached out to the NGO person again to inform him of the status, however, he to has wriggled out stating this was our personal matter and we can take it to court.
The Story Has Been Further Updated On April 24, 2020:
Independent Journalist Deepika Bhardwaj has spoken with Senior Inspector Jeetendra Baliyan of Ghaziabad police station who was in-charge of the said case. The SI clearly informed her that there was a minor dispute over cooking which got exaggerated with the wife’s alleged affair.
The lady had tweeted that her husband was trying to kill her for dowry, thrashed, punched and strangled her, and also confined her in the house for four days taking away her valuables. The inspector emphatically confirmed that there was absolutely no truth as described by Priyanka in her tweet. Mr Jeetendra has narrated similar incidents as informed to us by Priyanka’s husband.
The officer also says that the woman is now living with one Rahul Gupta, who happens to be the friend of Priyanka’s husband (not the one with whom the wife is alleged to have an affair). The SI also acknowledged seeing messages sent by the other lady to Priyanka’s husband, with whose husband Priyanka is alleged to have an affair.
Our Note:
- We are not going to be judgemental about either parties here
- Unlike most feminists and women centric portals, we would refrain from passing our verdict, since that is the job of police and courts
- However, the above case is alarming because, we as a society, choose to react to one-sided story, especially when it is coming from a woman
- What we fail to do, is at least give a fair hearing to the husband and his version
- Our issue with all women cells is not that they are aiding the women and their issues; the problem is they don’t take action against women if they learn about false and fabricated stories after investigation
- Women’s commission is only deterring the chances of genuine victims if they do not act against false accusers
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http://voiceformenindia.com/his-story/false-domestic-violence-case-india/
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