Why was Nasreen burnt by her Husband?
Prof. Dr. Mumtaz Ali khan
Nasreen was just 19 years when she died twenty days ago. The circumstances
under which
she breathed her last disturb even the most heartless persons. Hers is
a case which warrants
immediate and appropriate action. All those who stand for glorious principles
of Islam have to
wake up, organise and do some thing before many young married girls become
the victims of
the wrath and vengeance of men who are unfortunately married to these women,
but do not
deserve to be called “husband”. The word ‘husband’ has special connotation,
sanctity and
significance. Husband is a person who by virtue of his marriage has great
responsibilities to
protect the honour and life of his wife. It is his duty to maintain her
and keep her happy.
But young Nasreen’s case is a typical example of a perverted, cruel and
wicked man who
happened to be her husband. When she died she had four children, all in
the age group of 8 to
2 years. She was from a Muslim-dominant urban area in Bangalore. She had
two brothers and
a mother. She was married to a person in a place about 30 miles away from
Bangalore. Her
mother was careless while choosing the groom. Her anxiety was to dispose
of the daughter as
daughters are supposed to be a burden for parents. If girls remain unmarried
after 14-15
years, some parents take it as something that leads to public comments.
They also entertain the
fear of ‘safety’ of the daughters. Though no mother wilfully gets her daughter
married to a
wretched person. Even before marriage, this person was known to be a habitual
drunkard.
Nasreen had to live in her in-laws’ house for a few years.
Everyday turned out to be a nightmare. Being abused and beaten up day and
night, she did not
know what to do. She had no father. Her mother behaved in a manner that
was not generally
expected of a mother. In other words, mother did not apply her mind properly
to study the
situation in which her daughter was struggling for existence. Nasreen complained
to her mother
on a few occasions. But mother remained unmoved. But when Nasreen feared
of being killed
under some pretext by her husband, she came to Bangalore and took shelter
in her mother’s
house.
One day she met me at the residence of one of the members of the management
committee of
our organisation. We were trying to scout women in distress to help them
and their unfortunate
children. Nasreen narrated her plight. She pleaded for sponsorship of her
female child aged
around six years. The conversation between us went as follows:
Me: Where is your husband now?
Nasreen: He is in Magadi with his people.
Me: Why don’t you join your husband?
Nasreen: No, never. I have suffered so much that there is no question of
going there.
Me: If he forces you?
Nasreen: I would rather die .
Me: Why are you so scared of him?
Nasreen: He will kill me.
Me: What is the guarantee that you will stay back in Bangalore?
Nasreen: I am prepared to swear.
Me: Will you take up a job if offered?
Nasreen: Sir, my last child is just one year. Please give me one year’s
time. I will work.
She was in tears. I decided to make some enquiries before making up my
mind. I asked our
social work wing to make enquiries. It was found that Nasreen deserved
our help. The
sponsorship was possible through Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) an internationally
known
donor agency with unquestionable secular outlook. Nasreen had to take the
photo of her child,
Sumayya. She had no money. I took her to the studio and got her child photographed.
I asked
her to have total faith in Almighty Allah. I used to advise her to forget
the past and keep herself
happy, as she had to take care of four children. I also urged her to be
happy as otherwise life
will become a great burden. When she was mentally preparing herself for
a truncated but a
new life without husband in Bangalore, destiny played its role. Her mother,
though generally
not much concerned about the daughter, started bringing pressure on her
to go back to her
husband. Nasreen initially resisted this proposal. But mother would not
take it so easily. As a
compromise formula, she forced the daughter to hire a house near her house
and stay with the
husband and children. I warned Nasreen not to take the risk of allowing
her husband. After
studying the antecedents of her husband, I had told her that she would
be killed if she allowed
her husband to join her. Unfortunately without consulting me, she took
a house for rent next to
her mother’s house and started her encounter with the husband. She was
not too confident
about her safety. But she had no option.
But very soon started the cruelty of the husband. He began to beat her
mercilessly. Neighbours
remained mute spectators. They were helpless as it was just a purely domestic
matter.
For the last three days before her death, Nasreen was so badly beaten up
by her husband that
she was totally subdued and stopped crying and complaining. On the fateful
day, she had a
quarrel with her husband. There was no money at home to prepare breakfast.
Husband not
only refused to give money, but also forced her to prepare breakfast. She
told the husband,
“Where is the money, if you give me money I will prepare the breakfast”.
Then the husband
started beating her. She got fed up; went to a nearby shop and purchased
some quantity of
wheat flour, eggs, etc. and started preparing breakfast. The husband who
had gone out
returned with a burning cigarette in his mouth and fully drunk. As he entered
the house, he
burnt a broomstick. He told her, “look here, you would also be burnt like
this”. Poor Nasreen
thought he was joking. He picked up second cigarette and started smoking
sitting on the cot.
He got up, picked up the chimney and poured kerosene oil on her back. She
thought he was
just teasing her. “Why did you pour oil on me. See, a few drops have fallen
on wheat flour
too”.
Quite unexpectedly he threw the burning cigarette on her. It caught fire
immediately. He
pushed her into the room. She began shouting. Neighbours appeared on the
scene and tried to
intervene . He brought a gunny bag and covered her with it. She was rushed
to the hospital. He
too accompanied her. He threatened her by saying, “Tell police and others
that you yourself
tried to commit suicide”. He wanted to bribe the police. He asked Nasreen’s
sister-in-law to
give some money. She refused. Meanwhile, Nasreen gave her dying statement
that her
husband only did all this. He tried to run away. But police caught him
and took him to police
station for further action. Postmortem was conducted and the body was handed
over to the
relatives the next day. It was a pity that though Nasreen is said to have
had 48% burn, she
succumbed to them.
The number of drunkard husbands among the Muslikms is on the increase.
There is none to
correct the disease. Islam prohibits alcoholic drinks. But who has to preach
this and who can
enforce this on the erring Muslims. State Government wants money. Liquor
barons control the
State administration. Muslim priests have no hold over these deviants.
Women are mute
recipients of the dreaded and fateful torturous treatment. There is no
difference between a
broomstick and Nasreen when her husband torched both. Mother who forced
the daughter to
rejoin her wicked and dangerous husband remained indifferent. Should this
be the fate of
young girls who are married and have children? Should not the wives be
advised to seek
divorce at the earliest when they have such ruthless husbands? Who will
take care of the
innocent }children? We have decided to help one or two children by providing
free
educational facilities.
Meanwhile, Nasreen stands before my eyes, quite often, perhaps signalling
that I should not
forget her children.