Dowry Law Page #4

---

She used to say bhaiya ,

like brother is saying

I'll fail.

I'd say, "Everything

is gonna be alright."

I've never prayed to God

for my exams as far as I--

like as much I have prayed

for her.

And I'm like,

I have full faith in God

and I was very sure

she will pass.

[Adam]

In your opinion

was worry about exams

that she had enough

for her to commit suicide?

Except for exam,

I don't find a single reason

I was the most intimate

and close person to her.

I haven't found

a single more reason that...

[Adam]

Her-- her--

her family claims

she was being tortured, harassed

by your family.

For what?

[Adam]

I don't know,

that's what they said.

And what about

those constant demands

for a brand new Qualis car?

As far as Qualis is concerned,

we can buy a Qualis

the day we want to.

What is the point of asking?

And is life of a doctor

worth just a Qualis jeep,

whatever it is?

I don't think so.

[Adam]

Well-- I mean they say that,

you know that Mr. Sharma says

he's had to borrow

hundreds of thousands of rupees

which he'll be paying--

He'll be paying off

for the rest of his life.

This is his side of story,

absolutely his side of story.

[Adam]

He's lying then?

When--

Of course, he is!

All this case--

the case from day one,

this is all based on lies.

She was my wife.

I was supposed to live my life,

she was my--

supposed to be my partner

for my whole-- my life.

What will I get by killing her

or if she dies?

Is this a bigger loss for me

or for them?

For whom?

I asked the media,

I asked these people,

the police, the justice,

whatever.

For whom this loss is?

What will I get by her death?

[Adam]

You're someone wrote a card

to your wife saying,

"I hate you

for your shrewdness."

Yes.

[Adam]

Is that-- is that the sort of-

[Adam]

Relations between...

And there are--

There are 20 lines

above that which are loving,

is it not,

if you've seen that card?

[Adam]

Well, there are printed ones,

yes.

Yeah, printed ones.

If I had not been having love,

why would I write that?

[Adam]

Well, you didn't write it,

it was written--

Why would I send it?

They were printed on the card.

I could've sent other cards.

[Adam]

So your-- your--

And every--

[Adam]

So your relations with Kajal

were--

In every-- every husband and--

[Adam]

I am, yes.

You're married?

Don't you have small conflicts

with your wife?

[Adam]

Well, I'm not answering

these questions, but then--

Then...

Same with me.

Like my wife,

we used to have small problems,

whatever, what is it.

She used to get out of head

for exams.

I said, "Don't worry for exams,

it's a part of life.

They come, they go."

[Adam]

So are you not at all

puzzled then

about why your wife--

your wife committed suicide.

Absolutely not.

I'm just broken,

my family's broken, that is all.

There's no puzzle.

I'm very sad that-- that yes,

at that fateful moment

why was I not at home?

Had I been maybe at home,

I would have again sit with her,

I would've consoled her,

the things would've been okay.

[Adam]

The Singhs say

Kajal had been unstable.

They accused her family

of neglecting her

and deny any dowry extortion.

Anand claims

he'd have done anything

to save her,

but this was her destiny.

[]

[Adam]

The Sharmas say

the suicide claims

are ridiculous.

The thing they're

particularly worried about,

one of the things

is the handwriting

on the suicide note.

It says, "I'm doing this,

because of the tension

of my exams.

I'm responsible for this,

no one is to be held responsible

for my death.

I've been treated very kindly

by my husband and in-laws."

Now they say there is no way

that their daughter

would've written that

and also there's no way

this is her handwriting.

[Adam]

The Sharmas are worried

that the police

have now either lost interest

or have been bribed

to drop the case.

They don't know their way

around the legal system.

[speaks in Hindi]

So they turned to Brinda Karat,

a leading campaigner

against dowry.

[Adam]

Brinda contacts the lawyers,

saying the case

needs a proper investigation.

It's a dowry death.

[Adam]

She's worried the authorities

are trying to sweep it

under the carpet.

Life imprisonment.

[Adam]

Brinda has seen it all before

and she doesn't buy

the suicide theory either.

It's very, very unlikely

that this girl has written

a suicide note.

And anyway, just looking

at the handwriting,

it just doesn't match.

Even the layperson can make out.

It just does not match.

Hmm.

And secondly,

the way that the suicide note

is framed,

I mean three months, two months

after the examination,

she's talking about tension

in the examination,

it definitely doesn't make

any sense.

And thirdly, from the aspect

of the demands for dowry,

it's extraordinary.

I mean we have seen

so many cases,

I mean we deal with

I don't know how many cases.

But a case

where they are giving it

in writing

before the engagement ceremony,

that this is what we expect you

to bring,

I mean it's just so blatant.

And it just shows

how the social sanction

that this practice of dowry has.

They thought that you know,

they're probably going to buy

their daughter's happiness,

you know.

Dowry really is a practice

of the educated

and the richer sections.

I mean there's just no getting--

It's not related to illiteracy.

It's not related

to being uneducated.

It's very much related

to the devaluation of women

starting from the upper layers

of society.

[Adam]

Brinda knows the police

are weighed down

by corruption and bureaucracy.

First stop,

Inspector Harish Joshi's office.

One of the big issue

is to get the dowry back.

They have a half-hour meeting

which we're not allowed to film.

When they come out,

not much

seems to have been achieved.

How have you been able

to move things on today, then?

How?

Move things,

which things?

With this investigation.

Well, investigation means we--

we carry on the investigation.

What-- what have you said

to the Sharmas today?

Sharmas?

[Adam]

What--

what have you said to them?

How have you explained to them

their case is going?

No, I didn't talk to them,

I didn't talk to them.

[Adam]

But you've just had a meeting,

you had a meeting with them.

What did you say to them

at the meeting?

[Adam]

When?

Just now.

No, we didn't--

We discussed the case,

that's all.

[Adam]

And when--

Where is the case now?

Where does it stand?

What is the next move?

It's in the court,

it's in the court.

And the issue

of-- of dowry retrieval?

That is being examined.

[Adam]

The Sharmas now fear

they're dealing with police

who are corrupt

and disinterested.

[man speaking in Hindi on

radio]

[Adam]

The women's police cell

leading the anti-dowry campaign

has only one van in Delhi.

It answers calls all over a city

of 14 million people.

[car honks]

It's really impossible to tell

how many dowry deaths

there are each year.

The official figure

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes