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January 09 Cruilety at its max...Paying to cover crime is custom hereUdgir (Latur dist): Fourteenyear-old Taslima Bagwan may have been given a silent burial by her tormentors on December 31. The incident, however, has ignited an angry debate on the rising incidence of crime against women in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra as well as the cover-ups. Shocking but true, said Sanjay Lathkar, superintendent of police, Latur. “Of the 100 death cases registered with the police more than 50% of the victims are women. And in most cases the cause of death is shown to be due to jumping in a village well or hanging.’’ Lathkar said, recounting experiences in Parbhani district, a communally sensitive district in the region, where the IPS officer was posted six months back. Ditto in Nanded and Latur, two high-profile but declared ‘most backward’districts in the state in the Human Development Index report prepared by the Maharashtra Planning Board in 2001. While child marriages are rampant here, strong caste dynamics and a still-prevailing feudal order have resulted in a large number of cases where husbands re-marry without divorcing the first wife. In fact, the outrage over the Taslima Bagwan rape case has opened a Pandora’s box. Media glare has given many the courage to walk up to a police station and report such incidents which were “downplayed’’ by family members and the authorities in the past. “I have been handed names of five women from the district who have died under suspicious circumstances. In all cases, the women were found dead by jumping into the well. I have asked for a thorough probe and if there is any room for suspicion we will initiate action against those involved in creating compelling circumstances,’’ the top police officer told TOI. Senior officials said the incidents concerning crimes against women are often not reported and in most cases the families mutually resolve the issue with money paid in return for the loss of life. Taslima Bagwan’s case is itself a typical example. After the girl from the sleepy Dawangaon village, 15-km from Udgir town, was killed, her parents were allegedly offered Rs 50,000 to forgive the four youths who are arrested in connection with the rape and murder. “Whether fear of the majority members of the village or the promised cash payout was the reason why the case was not reported to the police is a matter of investigation. However, the fact remains that such incidents are not few,’’ a Udgir resident associated with the NCP said. The money that is provided to silence the victim’s relatives, is almost a matter of custom. “It has become so prevalent that the families haggle for the cash. In a recent incident of dowry death in a village, the woman’s body was lying unattended while her in-laws and parents sat across to negotiate the terms and cash. When such dealings take place, the crime is almost never reported,’’ said Lathkar. The incidence of “settlement’’ or cases were such crimes are downplayed are said to have been rising due to attempts to create a “false halo around a village that it is strifefree’’ as prescribed under the norms of the state-sponsored Mahatma Gandhi Tanta Mukti Gaon Abhiyan, a pet project of deputy chief minister RR Patil. In Latur district, barring one, all 740-plus villages have enrolled for this novel competition where prize money will be awarded by the state if they remain free of crime or internal fights.  NOT SAFE: Crimes against women are on the rise in Latur |
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