Women8217;s deaths: A burning8217; issue

SURAT, April 5: About 350 women died accidentally'' in 1998, according to cases registered in the city police stations. Another 76 wome...

SURAT, April 5: About 350 women died 8220;accidentally8221; in 1998, according to cases registered in the city police stations. Another 76 women died in the first two months of this year alone. And most of them succumbed to burns sustained surprisingly while cooking or after a burning candle fell on their clothes.

While these numbers are on the rise, haphazard investigations on the part of agencies 8212; like the police, Forensic Science Laboratory, mamlatdar office and medico-legal experts 8212; coupled with non-co-operation by relatives of the victims can be said to have led to crimes against women be written off as accidental deaths.

Not only voluntary organistaions, even sources in the FSL and the police department agree that most cases of burns deaths and suicides8217; due to poisoning are not investigated in a manner they should be, thus allowing the culprits to go scot free.

Alleges Girsih Dholabhai, secretary of Akasmaat Nivaaran Sahay ANIS, a voluntary organisation involved in checking crimes against women, 8220;Roughly speaking, about 80 per cent of all such cases are actually murders. Conviction is even lower at around four per cent. Courts too give ridiculous judgements in such cases because adequate evidence is always missing.8221;

The key therefore in such cases is the victim8217;s dying declaration DD. According to the procedure, after the victim is rushed to a hospital, the city mamlatdar and the police reach there and record the victims8217; DD, whether she succumbs to injuries or not. This DD is considered valid and final as far as the investigations are concerned.

8220;But the problem is not that simple, as the victim makes her declaration keeping a number of factors in mind,8221; says Dholabhai.

Women, who are sure that they would succumb to their injuries 8212; even 30 per cent burns are fatal 8212; do not accuse their husbands and relatives, keeping their children in mind. Her parents8217; social status is another factor which prompts her to give a wrong statement.

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For instance, in one such case, Athwa Lines police told Express Newsline, the father of a woman, who was poisoned, was forced not to lodge any complaints against her relatives, threatening him that they would not allow his younger daughter to marry within the community.

To add to this, the procedure prescribed in such cases is also not followed strictly. A FSL official here claimed,8220;We are not called to examine and collect evidence, either direct or circumstantial, in all cases of burns or the like.8221;

To this, a PSO posted at Varachha police station, which along with the Kapodara and Katargam areas forms the bulk of crimes against women in the city, responded that the need to call the FSL and finger prints experts arose only if the police suspected foul play.

FSL sources, however, differ saying that in most cases, circumstantial evidence like position of the dead body, distance from the source of fire, examination of her body for traces of kerosene or petrol, etc are crucial. 8220;If these things are recorded properly and pursued in earnest, many cases will have different endings,8221; a FSL official says.