A spurt in acid attacks against women has become a cause for concern in rural and urban West Bengal. BY Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay.
ON the afternoon of August 18, Raqibur Mandal of Nowda in Murshidabad district went to meet the girl he wanted to marry, carrying with him a bottle of acid. The girl, a student of class 12, had gone to the local panchayat office and was walk- ing back alone when he waylaid her. The two were seen having a heated argument, and Raqibur suddenly hurled acid on the girl’s face. He tried to escape on his motorbike but was caught by the local people. Like all acid attacks, it was a cold premeditated assault. He knew very well that she would reject him and had armed himself to avenge the insult to his ego.
The same day at Joynagar in South 24 Paraganas district, Uma Chakraborty, a housewife, was at- tacked with acid allegedly by her neighbour, Bapi Mistri, over a long- standing dispute over land. Uma Chakraborty, in the throes of agony, threw herself into a nearby lake before being rescued by other residents of the neighborhood.
Just 10 days before these attacks, Jyotsna Das Malik, a 35-year-old widow from Tarakeswar in Hooghly district, and 28-year-old Shikha Ghosh from Nadia succumbed to burn injuries after being attacked with acid. The attack on Jyotsna Das Malik was carried out on July 23, apparently for spurning the advances of one of her attackers. Shikha Ghosh, who was a deaf mute, was in her room on the night of August 6 when miscreants threw acid on her through the window. She died of burns two days later. According to her family, the attack was instigated by a neighbour who had allegedly raped Shikha earlier.
On August 3, yet another wom- an, this time a housewife from Bardhaman, was attacked with acid.
Between July 23 and August 18, West Bengal was witness to five acid attacks that resulted in two deaths. In the face of increasing incidence of violence on women in the State, the spurt in acid attacks over the last few years has become a cause for concern in Bengal’s rural and urban societies.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
