Tea Turns Tragic: Ghaziabad Man Beheads Wife Over Delay In Serving Tea

In a shocking incident, a husband beheaded his wife over a delay in serving him his morning tea. The incident happened on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, in Bhojpur village of Ghaziabad. The husband has been taken into custody, and the body of the wife has been sent for a post-mortem. 

This shocking tragedy has once again cast a grim spotlight on the pervasive issue of domestic violence that continues to plague our society.

A Morning Turned Nightmare

Dharamaveer, a 52-year-old man, reportedly ended his wife's life following a heated argument that escalated over the time it would take to prepare a simple cup of tea. Sundari, a 50-year-old woman and mother of four, fell victim to this horrific act while their children lay asleep in another room, unaware of the nightmare unfolding within their home.

Hearing Sundari's screams, the villagers gathered at her house, only to find her in a pool of blood. The local police were then informed who took Dharamveer into custody. According to the police, he had attacked Sundari with a sharp object—reportedly a sword—at the back of her neck, which led to her immediate death. 

When Trivial Matters Turn Deadly

This is not the first time that a husband has killed his wife over minor issues—or, let me rephrase, no issues at all.

Last year, in September, a man in Mumbai killed his wife for not preparing biryani for dinner. He came home in a drunken state and argued with his wife about why she didn't make biryani. He beat her up and then stabbed her with a knife.

In June of the same year, a Delhi-based man allegedly killed his wife for not serving food after they had consumed alcohol. The man reportedly ended up sleeping next to his wife's corpse, as he didn't realise that she had died during the assault.

In the same year again, a man allegedly killed his wife because of a delay in preparing food. The incident happened in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The man had reportedly hit his wife’s head with a tawa after an argument broke out between them over a delay in preparing dinner. The attack was so vicious that it led to the woman's death.

Isn't this alarming? Where is this unreasonable rage coming from? And why are men expressing their rage so brutally without any fear? 

Normalizing Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence has become common in our society. In every second house, we get to hear cases of husbands beating their wives on a regular basis. The recent NCRB report 2022 revealed that most of the crimes committed against women were registered under the 'Cruelty by husband or relatives' category. The report shows that 4,45,256 cases of crimes against women were reported last year, and 31.4 percent of these were committed by husbands or relatives. 

The cases of husbands killing their wives for trivial issues highlight the dominance of male ego over marriages. It shows that men consider their wives as their caretakers who are responsible for providing for all their needs. They don't respect their wives and do not value their lives. For them, their wives' lives are important only to serve food on time. But when wives try to burst their husbands' thought bubbles created by male privilege, they have to meet the worst fate of death. Husbands deny accepting their wives, try to question their position in marriage, or resist archaic rules.

Breaking the Chains of Silence

We live in a country where marital rape is still not a crime. Even though many courts have acquitted men for marital rape, the law still remains unchanged. When grave issues like marital rape do not get justice, how can we expect minor issues like the case in hand to reach the desired fate? In fact, no issue involving gender violence is minor. It is the normalisation of gender-based violence that renders domestic violence minor. In our society, the quickest solution to domestic violence is asking the woman to adjust because men will be men. Women have to adjust to the level of sacrificing their lives, but men can't bear even a small delay in tea. 

But how long will women suffer from this dominance? How long will they have to silence their screams and ignore gender violence to save their lives from the unreasonable rage of their husbands? Marriage is a bond of equality, not of servitude and licensed violence. 

Views expressed are the author's own.