Shirur woman alleges six years of abuse for not bearing a son; case filed against husband, four relatives

Pune: A case from Shirur taluka shows the discrimination women face for giving birth to a daughter. A 25-year-old woman from Ambale village has alleged that her husband and four relatives physically and mentally harassed her for six years because she did not have a son. Shirur police have registered a case against all five accused on her complaint.

The complainant is Gayatri Viki Pawar. She has named her husband Viki Ramdas Pawar (28), mother-in-law Meena Ramdas Pawar (55), husband's elder brother Kiran Ramdas Pawar (33), his wife Shivani Kiran Pawar (27) and husband's other sister Nilam Vijay Salunke (30) as accused. All of them live in Ambale village.

According to the complaint, Gayatri says her in-laws repeatedly taunted her after she had a daughter. She was threatened that her daughter, Sharvari, would be taken away from her. The accused also allegedly threatened to get her husband married again. Gayatri says she had been living under this pressure for the past six years.

The harassment did not stop at taunts; money was also demanded. Gayatri claims that when her husband bought a new four-wheeler, her in-laws asked her parents' family for Rs 10 lakh to repay the vehicle loan.

In another allegation, Gayatri said her in-laws were angry with her over an old incident involving her husband. They told her to meet another woman and assault her. When Gayatri refused, the accused allegedly kept her daughter with them and threw her out of the marital home.

Shirur police have registered the case against all five members of the family on Gayatri's complaint. Further investigation is under way under the guidance of Vinod Patil, police inspector in charge of Shirur police station.