Fund crunch adds to dowry violence victim’s ordeal
LUCKNOW: Set ablaze by her in-laws for being unable to meet their dowry demands, 25-year-old Kamla is still far from seeing an end to her ordeal. Her husband has abandoned her and she has spent the past 45 days lying in the general ward of the Burns and Plastic surgery department of SGPGI, unable to arrange the Rs 1.5 lakh needed for her surgery.
The mother of two sustained nearly 60% burns, and plastic surgery is a must for her. However, her destitute parents are unable to arrange the money. Her brother, Puneet Kumar, has also been running from pillar to post, but to no avail.
“My sister was initially treated at Radhakrishna hospital in Mohanlalganj, near our house. Then she underwent a surgery at SGPGI, but it failed. Now, the doctors have suggested a second reconstructive surgery to save her life,” said Puneet.
He said he earns ₹5000-6000 a month, as a daily wage labourer. “I have spent all savings on her treatment, but the money required for the surgery is beyond me. I have also been trying to get financial help from the government, but nothing has happened, so far.”
Separation from her sons has only added to Kamla’s woes. She spends her days and nights crying for her children, said her brother. “Her husband and in-laws are not allowing her to meet them, and the boys are too young to do anything about it,” said Puneet.
Kamla’s mother, Rajpati, and father, Kallu Prasad, are heartbroken. They were happy to marry their second eldest child (among four sisters and a brother) to Arvind, a private firm employee. His mother, Nirmala Devi, was a railway employee, and Kamla’s family thought that their daughter was stepping into a better future.
“Everything went well for some time after the marriage in November 2012. She conceived immediately and gave birth to her elder son, Riyan, now four. But later, her husband, motherin-law, sister-in-law Aarti, and her husband Ramu started harassing Kamla for dowry,” said Rajpati.
“We tried fulfilling their demands, but it was insufficient. After the birth of her second son, Rishab, in August 2016, her in-laws again started harassing her. Their demands became worse when Arvind lost his job in 2016,” she said.
Finally, on February 12, 2017, Arvind and Kamla’s in-laws set her ablaze after torturing her at their Para residence, said Rajpati.
“They were arrested and spent some days in jail. But then they got out on bail. The police favoured them and didn’t file a charge-sheet. This further emboldened her in-laws, and now they are not allowing Kamla to see her children,” she added.