THEME 5: ROLE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN FUELING FEUDAL, CASTEIST POWER DYNAMICS
CASE STUDY: CASTEIST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PROPELLED BY BLACKMAIL
State: Maharashtra
Date: July 2019
Age: 25
The accused and the survivor were in a romantic relationship for years. The accused initially agreed to marry the survivor, however when she started insisting for marriage, he started to evade. He finally refused to marry on the basis of her caste. He also started blackmailing her with some of their photos which they clicked when they were together. With the support of his family, he even tried to kill her by forcing her to consume poison. She survived all this and even then a few months after the incident, the accused again tried to communicate with her on the basis of the photos that he had. So finally with the help of activists, the survivor filed the complaint against him and his family members.
The news was published by some local news channels but due cognizance was not taken by mainstream media. Moreover, one of the newspapers instead published news against the activists who were supporting her. The civil society organisations supported her from the stage of filing the FIR, though it was difficult to even register a complaint against the accused due to financial and social power of the family of the accused.
The survivor is recovering from the trauma she has suffered. Though it is difficult for her to come out of it completely, she has succeeded in preparing herself for studies and has taken admission for LLB. She has become part of the Human Rights Defenders Network herself and has been supporting many other survivors in their struggle.
At the stage of investigation, the survivor herself has followed up with the police department for proper investigation. Yet, it has been observed that the investigating officer has failed to take cognizance of certain important evidences into consideration.