In the land of opportunity where dreams come true, one man's obsession made him a murderer! The 29-year-old Kunal Sonak Khadke allegedly killed his own wife because she stopped him from marrying again over his desperation to father a son.
Yes, you read that right!
In a day and age where we think Indian society has become somewhat progressive, here comes a case that hits us with the harsh reality; reminding us that many in our country still prefer boys over girls.
How it happened
Khadke who lived with his 28-year-old wife Indu in the (Sahapur taluka) Thane district of Mumbai, was already father to three young girls. But his wish to have a son made him play with the idea of remarriage, which naturally his wife disagreed with.
However, his urge soon became an obsession and he reportedly plotted to do away with Indu, to remarry to father a son. In order to leave little evidence of her 'murder,' he plotted an elaborate death.
He first took her out for a bike ride to a river and then allegedly strangulated her to death. He then left her body on the road to make it appear as though she died in an accident.
But the next day (Monday), when Indu's father was unable to track his daughter he realised something was amiss and filed a complaint with the police.
The police stated, "Based on the complaint, the accused was arrested on Tuesday morning and booked under sections 302 (murder), 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the IPC."
Sadly, this case highlights the continued discrimination against girl child in our country.
Girl child in India
Although over the years the sex ratio of our country has gradually increased, from 940 in 2012 to 944 in 2016 (per 1,000 males), it seems that the desire to have a son has not decreased.
In fact, in the report (linked above), out of the 41,554 households surveyed, only 11 percent wanted two daughters and 26 percent wanted two sons. Such differences in numbers only goes to show the immediate need to educate people about the importance of having a girl.
As a society of educated, urban Indians, it is also our duty to teach our staff or help about the importance of equality and why they must not denounce a girl child as 'burden.' In order to curb this problem, they must also be told that government also have several financial schemes to help girl child.
So let's pledge to educate more people and raise awareness about raising girls, who will one day make us all proud, just as a boy would.
Read: 8 differences between raising a girl and a boy
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(Image courtesy: Pixabay)
