"Its an internal matter"
Living in a middle class DDA locality in Delhi, would I go ring a bell if I heard loud voices in a neigbour’s house?Is it one of those one off fights every couple has, or is there a regular pattern? Is there physical violence? I hear a woman screaming violently regularly in some house, is she mentally unstable, should I inquire? The neighbours some houses away had hired a small child as a house help and used to keep him out in the verandah most of the day, should we complain to the police about child labour or help the child to run away? The maid told us that some other neighbour had left the house without paying her wages of last six months . Many neighbours have their electricity meters doctored, some have constructed illegally. The point I am making is that in a society where everthing is considerd an “internal matter” it is very hopeful to run a campaign like “bell bajao” . But my experience in both rural and urban India that a single male will only pick up fights. One needs to take at least two-three men and one-two women, because in India only numbers work and if later it comes to a police report one needs numbers, as otherwise its your word against his as the wife will not say a word. A battered woman will only feel comfortable with another woman,she will never trust another strange man.Unless you feel just ringing a bell is a warning and enough of a statement.
Tagged bell bajao
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