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Andhra Pradesh High Court stated that, “Daughter-In-Law being told by Mother-In-Law that she requires more perfection in household work, not cruelty”.
TW: Mention of Suicide, Verbal Abuse
A few months back, I wrote about a verdict which was delivered by the Mumbai Court stating that insults and taunts can’t drive a person to suicide, wherein I highlighted how difficult it is for a newly married girl to adjust to a completely different environment.
Further, if the family keeps on passing comments and insulting her, it is very obvious that her state of mind will get disturbed. Everyone bears an individual tendency to tolerate things, and these taunts can result in disastrous incidents.
Before I start this piece, I want to clarify that it is related to a recent verdict by Andhra Pradesh High Court and is not intended to hurt or offend anyone, especially the mother in laws.
Lately, Andhra Pradesh High Court addressing a case stated that, “Daughter-In-Law being told by Mother-In-Law that she requires more perfection in household work not Cruelty”.
The bench comprising Justice Dr VRK Krupa Sagar articulated that, “A praise or a comment with reference to the works that were being done is a common factor in any household. It is no one’s case that she was either abused or physically beaten for her imperfections in doing household works”.
Kindly read the highlighted line again: praise or a comment; certain questions arise in my mind after reading this!
We all, including women, are human beings and as far as I know, nobody can be perfect in this world.
I would again reiterate the fact that the first year of marriage is very crucial for a woman as she encounters a lot of changes naturally and over the top if she receives comments on her work, it worsens her mental state.
Why perfection can’t be exchanged with improvement, that too if conveyed politely. Has anyone witnessed how MIL conveys this so-called “Need Of Perfection” to DIL?
My parents, my brother and I consist of my maiden family. I remember my mother’s face when a relative passed a comment against my brother, she was so furious. When a girl gets married, it’s the sole responsibility of her husband and in-laws to make her comfortable and feel at home.
Do you think such comments will allow her to accept her husband’s house as her own? These comments are the little stones thrown at her daily, and she gets wounds which are invisible to the whole world.
A lot of people consider only physical abuse or torture as cruelty but trust me verbal abuse is equivalent to physical, it is no less. Some advice to ignore or neglect, but honestly, it is not possible.
Further, as per the news article, “The complainants alleged that their daughter was subjected to cruelty within the eight months of her marriage and that the appellants compared her marriage and that the appellants compared her marriage ceremony and arrangements with that of her sister’s wedding celebrations”.
Such comparisons work as fuel to the fire. Such verdicts only give a boost to in-laws with wrong intentions to do whatever they want and sometimes cost a life too.
Image source: Still from the Trailer of Tamil Film The Great Indian Kitchen, edited on CanvaPro
Smriti Malhotra is a Delhi girl and an avid dreamer. She works at the Embassy of the Republic of Congo by profession but is a writer by passion. She began writing while at school and read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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