In a horrific and heartbreaking incident that has left many in shock, a 32-year-old man from Maharashtra set his wife on fire simply because she gave birth to their third daughter. This devastating act of violence occurred in Gangakhed Naka, a town about 520 kilometers from Mumbai, on Thursday night.
Kundlik Uttam Kale, the accused, had a long history of belittling his wife, Maina, over the gender of their children. According to a complaint filed by Maina’s sister, Kale often taunted her for not having a son. In his eyes, the birth of three daughters was an unforgivable failure. The anger and resentment boiled over during a heated argument on that tragic night, leading him to pour petrol on Maina and set her ablaze.
Maina, in agony, ran out of the house screaming for help. Neighbors rushed to extinguish the flames, but despite their efforts, Maina’s injuries were too severe. She passed away before reaching the hospital.
The sheer cruelty of this act is unimaginable. A mother’s life was extinguished simply for not conforming to the patriarchal pressures that demand a male child. This senseless violence has sparked outrage and heartbreak, not just in Maharashtra, but across the nation.
What makes this tragedy even more difficult to comprehend is that Maina’s death isn’t an isolated incident. Across India, women continue to be harassed, abused, and even killed because they are unable to give birth to a son. This gender bias is ingrained in many parts of society, and women are often held responsible for not fulfilling the narrow expectations placed on them.
The pain that Maina must have endured, both physically and emotionally, before her untimely death, reflects a much larger issue in India: the devaluation of women and their lives. Despite the laws and campaigns that have been put in place to protect women, stories like Maina’s continue to unfold in the shadows.
This week, Maharashtra witnessed another gut-wrenching case of violence against women, as a 54-year-old man in Pune was accused of sexually assaulting and killing two young girls, aged 8 and 9. These two horrific cases within days of each other underline the urgent need for change.
For Maina, her life was brutally taken for the ‘crime’ of giving birth to daughters. For the little girls in Pune, their lives were stolen in a similarly senseless and cruel way. It’s time we ask ourselves: how much longer will we tolerate such violence?
