I am sad to see such domestic violence in Keralite society and law enforcement. The violence began on the day Bhagyashree Jigaluru was supposed to return to her matrimonial house after a long absence from her husband and a long period due to disputes in her marital life.
According to initial findings of the local police, Praveen Jigaluru was suspicious of an alleged extramarital affair with her husband and so was Bhagyashree. The accused first attacked Bhagyashree with a wooden stick in their bedroom and killed her with a dupatta, and Praveen took the video of her struggle and circulated it to her friends and family, they say. It was also reported that he made a video call to the victim's grieving parents while she was gasping for breath and they have never seen so much blood in their lives. The accused has since been arrested and a probe is on in the background of the tragic killing and the whole process is being conducted at the scene, they say.
This terrible incident is coming close to another horrific incident in Bengaluru, which has galvanized the public’s concern about the worsening toll of unresolved marital disputes. In Rayasandra locality under Parappana Agrahara police jurisdiction, 26-year-old homemaker Sanika Gowda died by suicide at her parents’ house. Early investigations revealed that Sanika had a panic attack over allegations that her husband Sharan Gowda had another relationship. Sanika had a panic attack when she was sent an audio recording of a conversation between her husband and they had a heated argument via video call just hours before her death.
Together, these two tragedies show us such a worrying trend that suspicion, emotional abuse and violent confrontations take place and that people who are afraid of someone and are in a bad relationship can end up losing their lives at once. Mental health professionals and social activists have said that there is a need for counseling to be accessible, for institutional mediation of troubled marriages and immediate support systems to put an end to domestic disputes in place before they escalate into a tragedy both in Bagalkot and Bengaluru and bring about the need for empathy, communication and action.
