Shielding half the population

Another grim reminder of the social injustices that blight our country came late last week as media outlets flashed the news of a woman being strangled to death by her husband over her failure to make his breakfast on time. It had been reported that the man used to repeatedly torture his wife for not waking up early enough to make his breakfast before he left for work each morning. One morning those routine but painful thrashings led to him strangling the young girl to death. The case illustrates how difficult the life of a woman has become.

The neighbours informed the police and her parents when they heard the girl screaming. Upon investigations by the police, the husband first claimed that his wife had committed suicide but then he later confessed that it was he who strangled her in a fit of anger. Such is the state of our mindset. Human life has lost its value, and disturbingly the value of a woman’s life, it seems, was never considered consequential enough.

Women, on a daily basis, make the news of either being killed by their relatives for marrying a man of their choice or for not abiding by the rules of their husbands. Cases of honour killing pop up on our newsfeed every morning. We read about cases where women are tortured by their in-laws, their own family members for not living their lives according to the rules set or expectations.

There is a dire need to change the mindset of our nation. A woman, just like any man, has the right to control her own life and live the way she pleases. Her life should not be considered of less value than that of a man. Those who take away her rights from her should be prosecuted. For their part, law enforcers need to be more protective of women because of their vulnerability to domestic abuse.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2017.

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