This article was first published in the print edition of Manushi Journal. (Issue-120, Sep-Oct 2000)
The birth of MANUSHI in 1978 coincided with the unfortunate rise in reported cases of domestic violence and murder. Some of these appeared to be linked to dowry demands. When we organised one of our first demonstrations, in early 1979, to protest against the police gang up with the murderer’s family by registering the death of the newly-married Tarvinder Kaur as a case of suicide, nearly 1500 people of the neighbourhood joined us in calling for a social boycott of the family. This protest received widespread publicity in the media. As a result, MANUSHI and other organisations who joined in that protest were flooded with cases of married women, seeking redress against abusive and violent husbands, as also parents, whose daughters had been murdered by their in-laws, seeking our help in getting justice from the police and courts. However, the experience of approaching the police and law courtsturned out to be a very disappointing one for most women’s organisations…
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