Jharkhand Woman Burnt Alive For Rejecting Advances: When Will We Take Stalking Seriously?

A Jharkhand woman was burnt alive for not submitting to her stalker's demands. The man had been stalking her for a while and she refused his advances then he threatened to kill her. Isn't it too late for men to understand the meaning of consent? Why is India not taking stalking and revenge for rejection seriously?

Why are women denied from practising their basic rights of being human? Can they not express their will to something that involves them? And how can the result of their rejection cost them their life? Even after doing nothing but a simple 'no' can kill you, what kind of nightmare are women living in 2022?

Jharkhand woman burnt alive

According to the reports, Ankita Kumari a resident of Dumka in Jharkhand had been approached by the accused to accept his friendship. Kumari said in an official statement to the executive management said that 10 days prior to the attack the accused had pestered her to become his friend. She said, "He called me again around 8 pm on Monday and told me that he would kill me if I did not talk to him. I informed my father about the threat after which he assured me that he would talk to the man's family on Tuesday." And on Tuesday morning while she was sleeping in her room she woke up with a sense of pain in her back and a burning sensation. She said, "I found him running away when I opened my eyes. I started screaming in pain and went to my father's room. My parents doused the fire and took me to the hospital." Read the full story here.

When a person can kill the other so brutally it cannot be called love. Why is romantic rejection so difficult to accept for many Indian men? The feeling of rejection can be heartbreaking and sad but to take revenge for their life to boost their ego is unimaginable. National Crime Records Bureau data shows that a total of 371,503 cases happened to women in India and among the majority of the crimes against women under the Indian Penal Code is "cruelty by husband or his relatives" (30 percent) followed by "assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty" (23 percent), "kidnapping and abduction of women" (16.8 percent) and "rape" (7.5 percent). And another data by NCRB suggests that out of 29,193 recorded murders, 3,031 were motivated by romantic affairs.

Suggested Reading: 19-Year-Old Jharkhand Woman Burnt Alive By Stalker: 10 Things To Know

This roots back to the male gaze we all experience where women are looked at as nothing but an object of desire. Women's opinions or desires are rarely valued. And men are brought up to believe that any woman they lay their eyes on will be ready to submit themselves and accepting rejection is an almost alien concept. Stalking is a punishable offence under the IPC but people aren't aware enough to make sure their offenders get punished. Mostly when in such cases the family of the woman thinks going further with this and involving the police could tarnish their name and respect in society whereas the man faces no consequences. It is still believed that "boys will be boys" and it is normal for them to chase a woman they like. Even films have promoted stalking as a form of love for years now.

When are we teaching our boys better than choosing to keep our women locked at home for safety? Don't women deserve to live freely like men?

Views expressed are author's own.