Kiranjit Ahluwalia
Kiranjit Ahluwalia |
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Kiranjit Ahluwalia is the Punjabi Sikh woman who came to international attention in 1989 after setting fire to her husband after 10 years of profound physical, mental, and sexual abuse.[1]
Domestic abuse
In 1979 at the age of 24 Ahluwalia left her home of Chakkalal in Punjab to travel to the United Kingdom after wedding her British Indian husband--a man she had only met once. For ten years, she suffered domestic violence of profound severity.[1] Her husband's abuse took the form of physical violence, food deprivation, rape.
When Ahluwalia looked to her family for help they reprimanded her, saying it was a matter of family honor. She ultimately tried running away from home, but was found by her husband and brought back into her abusive environment. During her marriage, Ahluwalia also had two sons, Ravi and Sanjay, who often bore witness to the violence she endured.[2]
Deepak's last beating
One night in the spring of 1989, Ahluwalia was attacked by her husband as he tried to break her ankles and burn her face with a hot iron, apparently trying to extort money from her extended family. Later that night while her husband lay sleeping, she lay a blanket soaked with gasoline on his feet and ignited it with a candle, and ran into a garden with her three-year-old son.[3] In a later interview she discussed her thoughts that night:
I decided to show him how much it hurt. At times I had tried to run away, but he would catch me and beat me even harder. I decided to burn his feet so he couldn't run after me.[2]
Five days later, Deepak died and Ahluwalia, who could only speak broken English at the time, was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment Lewes Crown Court on December 7, 1989 for committing manslaughter.[4] At the time, her council made little of the violence she had endured, while the prosecution suggested that Ahluwalia was motivated by jealousy due to her husbands' affairs.[2]
Southall Black Sisters and Ahluwalia's inadequate council
Her case eventually came to the attention of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS), and Ahluwalia became a symbol of the repression of Asian women as the group pressed for a mistrial. Ahluwalia had her life sentence remanded in 1992 on grounds of insufficient council--Ahluwalia had not been aware that she could plead guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. In addition, it was brought to light that she was suffering a severe depression when she lashed back at her husband.[2] Ultimately, her struggle helped raise awareness of the abuse of non-English speaking immigrants to Western countries, as well as changing the laws on domestic abuse victims in the United Kingdom.[1] Specifically, the case of R vs. Ahluwalia changed the definition of the word 'Provocation' in cases of battered women, so as to reclassify her specific crime as manslaughter instead of murder.
Film, autobiography and awards
Ahluwalia was honored in 2001 at the first Asian Women Awards for helping to bring to light a subject that has classically been kept behind closed doors in the patriarchal Sikh culture.[1] She has also written an autobiography with co-author Rahila Gupta, Circle of Light.[5]
Her story is also the subject of the controversial film Provoked, which was recently screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Naveen Andrews, well known for his role as Sayid Jarrah on the acclaimed television series Lost, plays her husband Deepak. Of note, on the series itself, Andrews' character is a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard who tortures and eventually kills his childhood sweetheart.[6]
Aishwarya Rai, the Bollywood mega-star, plays the role of Ahluwalia. Rai herself received much publicity for her allegations of domestic abuse and infidelity in the past against her former boyfriend, Salman Khan).[7]
During the screening at Cannes, Ahluwalia sat next to Rai, holding her hand and sobbing during the most violent scenes.[2]
See Also
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Cherie Booth (Nov 12, 2001). "Killer given domestic violence award".
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|source=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d e Staff Writer (April 4, 2007). "I wanted him to stop hurting me".
- ^ James Rossiter (April 3, 2007). "Abused wife who killed her husband shocks Bollywood".
- ^ Joanne Payton (April 8, 2007). "Express India Interview with Kiranjit Ahluwalia".
- ^ Amit Roy (June 12, 2005). "An eye for an eye".
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|source=ignored (help) - ^ Bonnie Covel. "About.com Lost Profiles".
- ^ Sanjeev Srivastava (October 7, 2002). [Salman Khan: Troubled star Salman Khan: Troubled star].
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External Links
- Amazon UK Page for Circle of Light by Kiranjit Ahluwalia and Rahila Gupta
- Stop Violence Against Women, Amnesty International
- Services for Domestic Violence Victims and Their Families
- National Network to End Domestic Violence
- National Coalition to End Domestic Violence
- Family Violence Prevention Fund
- National Domestic Violence Hotline (US)
- The Marjaree Mason Center Shelter-based Domestic Violence Program
- WomensLaw.org US based legal resources for survivors
- A list of organizations for women whose lives have been affected by abuse