Women grievance redressal cell received five such cases in 2010 for the first time.
The women’s grievance redressal cell of the Pune police has been receiving complaints from victims who allege their husbands are abandoning them during pregnancy.
Of the nearly 1,100 complaints that the cell received from women regarding different atrocities in 2010, five pertained to husbands walking out on their pregnant wives. The cell hardly used to receive any such complaint earlier.
“The trend shows that women are coming forward to lodge complaints against husbands. The cell tries to reunite these couples,” the police said.
According to the cell officials, men do not keep in touch with their wives when they go to their parents’ home after conceiving. “They are not even present in the hospital when the women are admitted or when the delivery takes place,” the police said, quoting some complainants.
These hapless women, apparently as a last resort, approach the police either to intervene and reunite the couples or take action against the erring husbands.
“While investigating these cases, we find that men are deserting their wives either due to marital discord, dowry or even for extra-marital affairs,” the officials said.
Senior police official and cell incharge, Mrudula Karwande, said they provide counselling to reunite these couples. “But in some cases the husbands take the counselling too casually. They are ready to settle the matter in court,” Mrudula said, adding that in such cases the police can do precious little to settle the matter amicably.
A sister of such a victim told DNA that during the victim’s pregnancy, her husband admitted her to a hospital. “He gave us a call and we rushed to the hospital and found that he was not present there. My sister was writhing in pain. She delivered a girl child who is now one-year-old. We are still clueless why he deserted my sister,” she sister said.
Narrating another case, the police said that a couple of months ago, a woman along with her two children had approached the cell to seek help.
“The family visited Pune from the US to attend a marriage. After the function, the husband left his wife and children in Pune, took his wife’s passport and went back to the US. Once he reached the US, he changed his cellphone, bank accounts, residence and work place,” the police said.
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