Lockdown making women vulnerable to domestic violence

A couple who got married in the presence of the police officers in a police station against the wishes of their parents few years back, now live in one of the capital region villages of Amaravati. The husband is even working as grama volunteer. The lockdown brought misery into their lives. He could not go out to hang out with his friends. Naturally, he is an agitated person now. Moreover, he started an extramarital relation with another woman and he could not even meet her. This also added fire to his frustration. He started taking revenge against his wife by regularly beating her.

The wife could not tolerate it any longer but failed to reach the police. She called the mobile number of one of the counselors of Vasavya Mahila Mandali. The counselor acted swiftly and contacted Deepika Patil, the Disha special officer, who in turn ordered the police to bring Venkatalakshmi out of their house and sent her to her mother's house.

This is only one of so many cases where women are facing domestic violence and physical abuse since the husbands are staying at home due to lockdown. The frustrated husbands, who could not go out for a peg or a puff of a cigarette, are taking their frustration out on their spouses.

A number of calls from various cities and towns across the country received by the counselors of Vasavya Mahila Mandali and Mahila Mitra in Vijayawada makes it clear that women are susceptible to domestic violence and physical abuse.

Vasavya Mahila Mandali, which has been providing family counseling service for the last 40 years, has now started e-counseling since the victims are not in a position to personally come to them or even lodge a complaint with the police.

Within days after announcing the phone numbers on its website Vasavya Mahila Mandali they started receiving phone calls not only from Andhra Pradesh but from the neighbouring states also.

An alcoholic husband from Madanapalle who started beating the wife out of frustration of no liquor available and a chain smoker in Coimbatore who harassed his wife are only some of the examples.

The Vasavya Mahila Mandali enrolled the services of a number of counselors across the South India who are ready to help the harassed women.

A Kashmiri advocate Neeru Mishra who settled in Vijayawada, PG Sunanda Bhagawathy in Tamil Nadu, Rashmi Oza in Maharashtra, Sujatha Mohapatro in Odisha, M Priyamvadha in Chennai in addition to Kankanala Vijaya, Madhavi Ganapathi and Polisetti Subhashini in the two Telugu states are taking the calls from the women victims.

Three more counselors in Krishna district Kilaru Lakshmi, P Bhuvaneswari and Arepalli Nagamalleswari also receive calls from the victims. Vasavya Mahila Mandali also provides three other numbers including a WhatsApp number, a toll free number, says Dr Keerthi Bollineni, president of Vasavya Mahila Mandali. Moreover, the victims could contact the office of Mahila Mandali through their website or email their woes to them.