Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar questioned the public outrage around recent cases of women murdering their husbands, calling out “shameless” and selective societal response. Speaking at the NDTV Creators Manch, Javed Akhtar said he had “mixed emotions” after learning about the two recent murder cases- one in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, where a man’s body was chopped and stuffed into a drum and the other in Meghalaya, where a woman killed her husband during their honeymoon.
“Women have been set on fire. If they are not set on fire, their lives in their in-laws’ homes are worse than death as they get beaten up every day. But why is society not outraged by all these? What a shameless society,” Javed Akhtar said.
He added, “Two women are accused of murder and society is shocked. But where was the shock for years when women were tortured by men and is still happening even today?”
Responding to a question on the Meghalaya case involving a woman named Sonam- who allegedly hired hitmen to kill her husband Raja Raghuvanshi shortly after their wedding- Javed Akhtar said while the act was wrong, the context must also be investigated.
“What she did was very wrong. But if she did it soon after their wedding, find out whether the wedding was forced on her against her wish. It would be easy to find out,” he said.
“Is it easy for a woman from a small city in Hindustan to tell her mother and father that she will not get married? Can she say that?” he asked, highlighting societal pressure on women to conform to marriage norms.
Making it clear that he was not defending the crimes, Javed Akhtar said, “I am not justifying murdering anyone, including husbands.” He then referred to a troubling pattern of domestic abuse in India saying, “There was a time when many daughters-in-law were killed in pressure cooker explosions. Even the pressure cooker would recognise who is a daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law or her daughter never died.”