The need of the hour is to educate women about their basic rights and let men understand the grave repercussions of abusing them,” Shamina Shafiq, member of National Council of Women, said in a talk on rights of women in a marriage which held recently in the Capital. The discussion, organised by Zee TV, focused on raising awareness on domestic violence and other crimes against women.
“Domestic violence is not just limited to physical abuse. It exists in different forms. You are abusing a woman even if you are causing her mental turbulence. Just like in my show, Doli Armaano Ki on Zee TV, although the woman has left her sasural in disgust from her husband, the male protagonist, will not let her find her own standing. That is the main problem,” Pearl Grey, the producer of the serial tells you.
Mohit Malik who plays the evil Samrat Singh Rathore on this show feels the problem lies in the society at large which still is very male dominating.
“It is not just the men who are inflicting injuries (physical and mental) on women but other women don’t let go of an opportunity to hurt their own gender. That needs to stop. And basic education to all is a must,” he analyses.
As audiences appreciated the initiative taken by the serial in bringing the taboo on a public platform, many women shared their bitter-sour experiences. Himani from a village in Haryana talked about the plethora of torment she had to face in her eight years of marriage. “Walking out of a marriage is not easy. I tolerated all these years but unfortunately, my ordeal only multiplied with passing time. It’s only now that I decided enough is enough,” she says.
Women are entangled in the stiff societal obligations where marriage is considered a sacred institution and walking out of it is simply unacceptable. “Abuse is something that happens everywhere irrespective of class status. I agree with Mohit that the patriarchal mindset is not just a problem with the men but women as well,” Shafiq tells you.
Another widow Meera Mishra gives you an example where she was maltreated by her own parents-in-law after her husband’s death. “I am living in a house with my son and I recently got to know that they have sold the place to someone else. I don’t know where to go,” she laments. To which advocate Sharma said that it’s a woman’s right to free shelter and nobody can remove her.
“It’s necessary to know your rights then only you can be strong in such a situation,” he adds.
The talk that emphasised on the fact that television is a very powerful medium in conveying such social messages saw a very heated up debate when entered the question of rigid and patriarchal mindsets.
“It’s the responsibility of a mother to inculcate values in her child,” said advocate R K Sharma to which the women in the panel immediately rebutted by asking — ‘Why not father’sIJ’