UP Man Puts Wife’s ‘Honour’ On ‘Sale’ Because Women Are Mere Sexual Commodities, Aren’t They?

Man decided to put his wife’s ‘honour for sale’ on social media, asked people to call her for ‘sexual favours.’ Just how entitled and vile can humans be?

A man from Uttar Pradesh put his wife’s ‘honour for sale’ on social media when he was not given a motorcycle by his in-laws as a part of his dowry. He is known to have beaten his wife many times for not complying with the absurd request. The man has since been arrested by Mehnagar Police in Thuthia Village. 

Enraged after his wife returned to her parents’ house, he posted a picture of hers on social media with her name and number. He encouraged encouraged people to extract sexual favours from her.

The woman was able to report her husband to the police when she began receiving a number of calls. Unfortunately, this was the second case in the district in two days, where women were treated in a similar way. 

Just how entitled are they?

This incident is not isolated and only sheds light on the prolonged and persistent problem of male entitlement in the society. And shows how it continues to manifest in various environments.

Ours is a society that lets individuals believe that they have the inherent right to act in such a manner, like the man did. Aren’t such behaviours the pillars that hold patriarchy together? We need to reflect upon why they continue to persist even today!

Authorities involved said and acknowledged the intensity of the what the man had done. According to the report in Outlook, they said, “This is an unusual case of crime against women and we will ensure strict punishment for the accused.”

This incident is yet another proof of the reality of gender-based violence that continues to stay in the Indian society. A society where male privilege and entitlement, brought on by patriarchy, only continue to undermine such issues. 

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Gender laws in India already privilege men and give them a sense of entitlement. Upon further research, I was shocked to learn that according to the Indian Penal Code, “Violence against women is defined as an assault or criminal force to[wards] a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty.” The ‘modesty’ in question pits women against society and serves as a means of further characterising traits associated with gender.

Other debilitating issues 

There are still a number regressive practices followed in the society, including that of dowry. A women’s family is forced to concede and comply with what a husband’s family’s demands. This particular case is yet another one that proves how the objectification and commodification of women continues to persist in the society. 

We also need to go beyond this case and focus on issues of female infanticide and the preference for boys over girls. These only serves to further aggravate the problem.

Boys and girls continue to be differentiated by certain personality traits- at home and at school. The boys are given complete freedom which only normalises their privilege and dominant positions. And problems so prevalent in our culture are never reviewed or evaluated. They are merely shoved under the rug. 

Let us pause to think about unreported and often unacknowledged cases. And what about those where there is no intervention and we fail to see the problem? The invisible spectre of entitlement and privilege can often even go unnoticed many a time. 

Understanding and acknowledging this larger problem is only the first step, yet for some reason, it has proven to be the most difficult one yet. 

Picture credits: Still from Bollywood movie Gangs Of Wasseypur

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