A New Form of Protest Against Women’s Atrocities

Normally, when we talk about atrocities, what comes to mind is the oppression, harassment, and violence men inflict on women. Until recently, in our country, such male-driven atrocities against women dominated society. Governments even framed numerous laws for the protection of women. But over time, things have changed. Now, the situation seems to have reversed.

Although atrocities against women still occur, their percentage and intensity have decreased. On the other hand, the number of cases where women are killing their husbands is rising. These reports are now surfacing in the media almost every day. Despite the option of divorce, some women are directly resorting to murder. Extramarital affairs are the main reason behind such crimes. In some families, children are also being killed if they are seen as obstacles. As a result, men are now fearful even about marriage.

This has led to growing resentment among men toward women, which they feel must be expressed in some form of protest. In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, a men’s rights organization called Paurush has decided to demonstrate in a unique way. On Dussehra, which symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, the effigy of Ravana is traditionally burnt across India.

However, this year in Indore, Paurush announced that instead of Ravana, they will burn the effigy of his sister Shurpanakha. They declared that on October 2, Dussehra day, they would burn Shurpanakha’s effigy, symbolizing female wickedness, and depict eleven severed heads representing wives who murdered their husbands.

The organization said that instead of Ravana’s ten heads, they will use the faces of women who killed their husbands, children, or lovers as the eleven heads of the Shurpanakha effigy. Their intent, they explained, is to convey that evil knows no gender. They want to highlight and condemn the crimes committed by women. According to them, many modern-day Shurpanakhas are betraying trust within families, and hence, they themed this Dussehra around “Adharma.”

Interestingly, a similar protest took place in 2018 at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Members of the Patni Peedit Purush Sanghatan (organization for husbands oppressed by wives) burnt a Shurpanakha effigy in Karoli village near Aurangabad. They argued that most Indian laws are biased in favor of women and against men, which women misuse to harass their husbands and in-laws.

They claimed their protest was against such misuse of laws. Citing statistics from 2015, they pointed out that 74% of those who died by suicide in India were married men. When anger boils over, even festivals become occasions of protest, they remarked.