A new bride from Andhra Pradesh was in for a violent shock when she moved in with her new husband. Quite literally.
What should have been a dreamy first night for her, turned out to be a nightmare when the 23-year-old Shailaja Reddy was subjected to brutal physical violence by her husband.
An MBA graduate, Shailaja got married to Rajesh Reddy, a government school teacher, on December 1. On their first night, the couple were put up in her home in Motharanganapalli in Gangadhara Nellore.
But as soon as she entered the room, her husband reportedly told her that he as nervous and warned her to not share anything about him with her parents.
"He punched me on my face and kicked me on sensitive body parts"
However, in her own nervousness, she went out and told her parents that Rajesh was impotent. This enraged him so much so that within minutes her pounced on her and started to beat her mercilessly.
He not only punched her in sensitive areas but even used a knife to physically assault her.
“It seems Shailaja went out of the room at night and told her parents that Rajesh was impotent which enraged Rajesh and he attacked her. He beat her mercilessly, bit her, and punched her leaving her face swollen and disfigured. Her lips are swollen and bleeding. He kicked and thrashed her for several minutes until her parents heard her cries for help and rescued her. She is undergoing treatment at a local hospital. We have arrested Rajesh Reddy,’’ Sub-Inspector G Rajasekhar told The Indian Express.
The victim was immediately admitted to the Chittoor government hospital and later shifted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
Her face was swollen and she had bruises and cuts all over
While at the hospital, Shailja recorded her statement and shared that her family arranged a grand wedding for the couple and even gave Reddy Rs 1 crore as dowry.
However, on the very first night, Reddy displayed his true colours.
“He punched me on my face and kicked me on sensitive body parts, besides biting me all over and inflicting injuries with a knife,” she reportedly told the police.
To which her mother added that when they saw her after the assault, she was in a state of shock. “She was in a state of shock. Her face was swollen and she had bruises and cuts all over. We immediately took her to the hospital,” her mother told the Hindustan Times.
While Reddy was immediately arrested and even suspended by the district collector from his position as a government school teacher, this case has once again highlighted the plight of women in our country.
Why are Indian women constantly subjected to domestic horrors?
If it isn't dowry, then it is domestic violence. And if it isn't domestic violence, it is harassment by in-laws. When will women in our country live with respect and equality?
If you look at the numbers, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2015 "as many as 7,634 women died in the country due to dowry harassment," quoted a daily. And as per Delhi Police, as many as 31 women died of dowry harassment only in the national capital.
As for domestic violence, a BBC report claimed that in 2013, 118,866 cases of domestic violence were reported in India. Not to forget, one woman is abused by "her husband or in-laws" every five minutes.
So the question is- how do we tackle the issues of domestic horrors against women? Should the courts set a harsh example?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and start the most important debate of our times.
Also read: A 24-year-old Delhi woman burnt alive by husband and in-laws for dowry!
(News and images source: NDTV & Pixabay)
