New-(r)age women

Early this week,the Division number 7 police claimed to have solved the July 11 blind double-murder case of the Mundian Kalan village on the Chandigarh Road by arresting the wife of one of the murdered men. According to the police,Preeti hired goons to kill her husband Vijay alias Rajesh Kumar. Along with Vijay,his friend Naresh Kumar was also shot dead. While Preeti has been arrested by the police,her alleged paramour Bittu is still on the run.

In another case,the Sadar police had arrested one Paramjit Kaur who along with her paramour Jagtar Singh had allegedly strangulated her husband Nazar Singh to death in Phullanwal village on July 18.

On July 25,a woman got her husband assaulted by some of her supporters in Jagraon. Here also,dis-harmony between the couple led to the attack.

The rising number of such cases has baffled police,psychiatrists and lawyers’ fraternity.

Ludhiana range DIG Sharad Satya Chauhan said,“The rise in such cases where spouses either kill their partners or hatch a conspiracy to get them killed is alarming for the society. The police cannot do much in these cases as we can safeguard people from the outsiders or their enemies but not from their family members or spouses. Earlier,men would resort to such crimes but now women do not mind being part of adulterous relationship. It has indeed assumed alarming propotion.”

A senior lawyer and former Additional Advocate General (AAG) Harpreet Sandhu opines,“It’s shocking to see murders taking place because the man and the wife do not get along. The society should come forward to find a solution to the problem.”

It’s not only professionals like the police officers and lawyers who are shocked to see the gravity of the situation,NGOs are equally perplexed. “Our legal system is very lengthy and tiresome. If a wife or husband wants to take divorce,it takes years and till then they have to pull along with their partner notwithstanding the unfriendly atmosphere in the family. At times,a person takes extreme steps. Our matrimonial laws need to be amended,” says Satnam Singh Dhaliwal,president of Universal Human Rights Organisation (UHRO).

Dr Ranjiv Mahajan,DMCH Department of Psychiatry head,attributes incidence of such crime where women have been found manifesting their anger in extreme violence to the fact that women of today have undergone a sea change. “If we take into account the last 30 years, men are still the same while women have come a long way. Today,they are more independent,financially,emotionally and intellectually,especially in the developing countries. She feels more liberated,” he says.

“In 1996,a doctor would hesitate to ask a woman if she used to take hard drinks but boozing is a common among the women of today. That is because we have also accepted some changes in our social set-up,” says Dr Mahahan.

Murders of kin
Not only spouses but there are many other cases where close relatives have been killed for money,property or ego. On July 8,a man killed his father in Maadpur village near Samrala. On July 10,a man killed his younger brother in Garib Khurd village near Jagraon suspecting that the latter had illicit relations with the former’s wife. On July 13,a youth killed his grandfather over petty dispute at Barma village near Samrala.

On July 11,Machhiwara police booked a man for allegedly assaulting his own mother at Garhi Tarkhana village. DIG Sharad S Chauhan said,“If there is a simmering dispute between close relatives and it is in the knowledge of the police,police must take steps to prevent commission of such crimes.”