A married woman is not her husband’s property

THE EDITOR: The year 2004 seems to be off to a deadly start, not in the area of young criminals shooting each other, but in the rate of murder-suicide by irate husbands. Once again, an angry male, unable to contain his rage at a real or imagined slight, wreaks vengeance on his wife, and takes his own life also.

Someone needs to explain to young women in TT reasons why they should still get married, when the death rate among young married women, especially women of East Indian ancestry, is so high due to violence. How many East Indian young women were shot in the streets last year? Killed as a result of kidnappings? I can’t recall any, Some were victims of road accidents but a significant number died at the hands of husbands, boyfriends and lovers. This is an epidemic that should engage the minds of both the religious and social leaders of the community as a whole, not just the East Indian community.

Now, whenever someone with a non-Indian name comments on an issue of this sort, tons of fire are heaped on their heads from people who have their internet address, so let me borrow the name of my godchild and niece, Lindsay Baboolal, to say that there is a crisis engulfing East Indian young women in Trinidad. It is a crisis of murder based on false ideas of control and ownership. A married woman is not her husband’s property to do with as he wishes. All too often, young women get jobs beyond the level of the education that their husbands have, and these jobs and the income from them create a sense of independence in the women and helpless rage in the men. That helpless rage leads to death.

It is no longer enough for well meaning relatives to counsel “patch it up,” it is no longer enough for a religious leader to “talk to him.” These have been tried and have left women dead. Someone needs to train young women of all races and mixes to recognise danger signs, and to flee to safety where ever safety is to be found. These young women need to be reminded daily that when their men are angry, and mix their anger with rum, “somebody go dead tonight,” usually the woman. Shame frequently encourages families to keep problems in relationships a secret, until the secret turns deadly and is made public. I would like to see all three newspapers making this an issue of editorial concern. I would like to see what all the talking heads at the papers have to say on this recurrent phenomenon of domestic murder which caused Dr Dalip Singh to be hanged in the 1950s. It is no longer something that any civilised society should tolerate.

A woman should not give up her right to live because she is married. I appeal to the IRO, to Archbishop Gilbert, Bishop Bess, Bishop Burke, Dr Selwyn Ryan, Mr Lloyd Best, Mr Raffique Shah, Mr Sat Maharaj and even the avowed atheist K Baldeosingh to address this issue with some urgency. Intelligent men in the society have been silent too long on this issue. It is not a matter for the police by the time they get involved the bodies are cold. Perhaps international agencies, with offices in TT can establish a shelter for “refugees” fleeing domestic violence, and try to get them settled in other countries.

LINDA EDWARDS
Port-of-Spain

PS: Note to Editors: Lindsay recently migrated to the US, where I hope she will become the medical doctor she dreams of becoming. Hopefully, too, she will not end up marrying a murderously ignorant man.