Murder By Fire: 106,000 Women A Year (Video)
In 2009 the medical journal The Lancet published a study that made a shocking revelation. It revealed that in one year at least 106,000 young, married women were killed by fires their homes in India. These results were acquired by collating records of death by burns from hospitals. What this indicates is that there is possibly one woman killed by fire, every 5 minutes in India. As the Lancet study also noted, most dowry murders, including the ones with fire, are often staged as suicides or accidents, and kitchen “accidents” are the easiest to stage or explain away, hence the preference for the “burning” method. The study further noted that the police does not investigate or even file most of these cases.
Every year thousands of young women in India are brutally killed by their husbands and in-laws in what essentially are cold, premeditated, gang-murders. They are hanged, stabbed, shot, drowned, poisoned or doused with gasoline and set on fire. The last method is so prevalent that these murders are sometimes incongruously referred to as “bride-burnings.”
In the following T.V. interview 3 high-profile Indian women express their views on the Lancet report about the exploding phenomenon of dowry murders in India. The 3 women interviewed here are Shoba De (author), Indira Jaisingh (a high profile supreme court lawyer), and Girija Vyas (the ex-chairperson of the National Commission for Women in India). Watch the video below in 3 parts.
This is a special post to coincide with Anshu’s Singh’s birthday on October 06. Anshu Singh was a bright, young woman, with big dreams of a successful career and a happy family life, who was killed by her husband and in-laws, in their greed for dowry, just 6 weeks after her wedding. The 50 Million Missing Campaign has been supporting Anshu Singh’s father, Girendra Singh, in his fight for justice and we wish the family strength and courage to continue their fight till justice is done. Click here to read Anshu Singh’s story.
Trackbacks
- Essay: Why the Annihilation of Women Doesn’t Anger The World | THE LYON REVIEW
- Why the Annihilation of Women Doesn’t Anger The World | THE LYON REVIEW
- Facebook Game ‘Angry Brides’ Trivializes the Issue of Dowry Violence « A BLOG ON FEMALE GENDERCIDE
- Why Did the World Sleep Through India’s Female Genocide? « GENDER EQUAL: A BLOG ON INDIA'S FEMALE GENDERCIDE
- Recognizing Ram was a “Bad” Husband « GENDER EQUAL: A BLOG ON INDIA'S FEMALE GENDERCIDE
- Recognizing Ram was a “Bad” Husband « Intelligent Idiot
- International women´s day 2013 – Let´s look into their eyes and do something | No-mad
- Kampf Gegen Weiblichen Völkermord In Indien | Die “50 Millionen Fehlen Uns” Kampagne: Kampf Gegen Weiblichen Völkermord In Indien
- Warum soll die Vernichtung indischer Frauen als Völkermord (Genozid) gewertet werden? | Die Kampagne “50 Millionen fehlen”: Kampf gegen den Völkermord (Femizid) in Indien
sooo sad …
As someone for the West I am shocked, since we have been told that the West is materialistic and the East has special spiritual knowledge. Based on these videos it seems the opposite is true. In the West I have to live in a culture that often is too focused on chasing after material wealth, but at least most of my friends have some idea of the existential value of a human life! We don’t burn women!
It is shameful and shocking how women are abused and that it is accepted by society….terrible!!!
it makes scene if these women were turning up riddled with bullets someone would want to know why. this is exactly what the Nazis did burn up all the evidence of the crimes!
The woman who is the national chair of women thinks that just changing mindsets wil work? Is she nuts? Is there a process to change that mindset, or is it as simple as every Indian waking up one morning and spontaneously declaring an end to gender violence and discrimination???
Shocking interview with Girija Vyas who is an apologist for dowry murders! Women like this are our worst enemies in the fight for the right to life for Indian women.
you make an interesting point. I’ve been thinking the same thing for some time but I couldn’t come up with the right words for the situation. I call such women collaborators. unfortunately there are a lot of collaborators out there. it should also be noted that not all men are your enemies ether. there are men who have joined this campaign. I know because I’m one of them. I believe that all those responsible for dowry deaths should be lined up and shot! if this was done than maybe all the money, cars, apartments, oil futures contracts and whatever else they usaly demand would not be worth it. that’s the way to solve this problem!
You are absolutely right. There are indeed many men who have joined and who support our campaign, just as there were many white people who joined the fight against racial segregation in the U.S. and apartheid in South Africa. So we thank you for your support very much and hope more men will join us!
http://www.indiatribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3557:uttar-pradesh-bihar-madhya-pradesh-report-most-dowry-deaths&catid=125:general-news&Itemid=400
Official figure is 7456 death and they are declining. Even one death is bad but then west also have so many woman dying because of drug abuse. Americans should better improve their own crime ridden society
You perhaps don’t know because you don’t work with this issue. But women’s groups, NGOs, human rights groups have repeatedly reported that the police does not register most cases of dowry murders. We have found that with cases we have worked with!! Your logic is strange. This is not about drug us. This is about murder. A human rights crime!!
is this some sort of a sick joke! your logic makes absolutely no scene. that’s like saying the US should have gotten unemployment down before stopping the Nazis from killing the Jews. i don’t know about the rest of you but I think that Narendra should be banned from making further comments for that one!
@emery — Yes we are monitoring the comments. Narendra’s unfortunately is only a small representation of what a lot of educated, internet savvy Indians think!! We are wondering how does one change this mindset?
I might have gone a little too far in my condemnation of Narendra’s comment but only because some of the things I’ve said are also unpopular. the difference is what Ive said is intended to help the campaign. as for your question maybe the answer is to discuss more the secondary effects. I believe that war is a possible secondary effect of the elimination of women. one way this could happen is if an Indian man trays to impress the family of one of the few remaining women so he can get an arranged marriage set up by assassinating the president of Pakistan or China. so my question is do you agree with my position on this.
@emery — No when women are treated as ‘resources’, there are other ways around it. Increasingly, families of 4 or more brothers are now ‘buying’ a bride to “share” — and they keep her as a virtual domestic and sexual slave!! Rape is increasing at the highest rate of all other crimes in India. See our most recent post on the petition by Avaaz and please support it.