From the time a girl is born till her last breath, every second of the day is a continuous struggle for survival.

I got up this morning with news of another girl who attempted suicide due to dowry demands and harassment from her husband. And I cannot explain the insurmountable pain and fury I felt.

Dolly Berry met Nitin Mirchandani at a gym where they both went to workout. Regular talks turned into a romance, and they decided to get married. A dream come true, right?

Indeed, it was for Dolly! With big dreams and hopes for a blissful future, she married the man of her dreams on December 13^th, 2015. Dolly’s family was happy seeing her little daughter as a bride and all was well.

But, little did anyone know of the dark pit Dolly was moving towards. Soon after marriage, the man of her dreams turned into a beast. Nitin started beating her and cursed her every day. And, at night, he came drunk and tortured her. He told her to get money from her parents and openly asked her to arrange funds for him. She suffered all of this silently because she loved him and wanted to make their marriage work. (I request you all not to victim-blame and shame her for her choices. We should respect her decision of staying in the marriage as we don’t know of her reasons and circumstances.)

However, one month later, she found out about Nitin’s affair with another girl. She also came to know of Nitin’s dark past and how he had married and divorced two other girls before marrying her just for dowry and had tortured them for money.

She came back to her parents on her birthday, which was on 21^st July. Depressed and heartbroken, she hanged herself in her bathroom. Dolly’s sister, Deepika found her and rushed her to the nearby hospital. Now, she lies there on a bed in Coma: unresponsive, voiceless, and DESIRELESS, yet fighting for her life while Nitin is still there somewhere living his life, and probably making some other girl’s life a living hell.

Read more about her in this post by her brother Saurabh Poptani.

Indian Human Rights Activist, , also posted a video of her sister, Deepika Berry where she shared how Nitin tortured and harassed Dolly.

“He was brutal towards her and provoked her to end her life in mere seven months of their marriage.”

JWB contacted her father and extended support to them.

He told us that Dolly was fun-loving and chirpy. “Meri bacchi bahut hi hasmukh aur khushmizaz thi. Ek mahine se bistar par hai, kuch bolti nahi, kuch sunti nahi.”

The police authorities, too, have been negligent in the case and are still ‘enquiring.’

“Till now, only IPC section 498 has been registered, and we are also trying to file the case under IPC 354,” Dolly’s father told JWB.

“Hum jab bhi puchte hai who kehte hai karyawahi chal rahi hai. Nitin is still free and roaming outside,” he continued.

The distressed father also shared with us how Nitin lured girls into marriage and tortured them for money.

“We now got to know that he had been married twice before marrying my daughter. One girl that he married was from Indore, and he used to beat her also. Even after marrying Dolly, he had an affair with another girl.”

“Shaddi ke 1 mahine baad se hi torture karna chalu kar dia tha meri bacchi ko. It was all a sham. We got her back home several times, but, Nitin and his entire family came to us and begged us to send her. Dolly wanted to make her marriage work and so she went with them.”

“On her birthday, we got her back. She didn’t talk to anyone and became very quiet. She was in depression. And then, she attempted suicide.”

 “We have also recovered so many text conversations on Dolly’s mobile which revealed Nitin’s atrocities. In those messages, “Tumne mujhe itni baar maara phir bhi maine kuch nahi kaha,” she admitted that she endured his torture because she wanted him to change and genuinely loved him.”

In the end, he said,

“My bacchi is a fighter, and I know she’ll come back from Coma. But, I want justice for her.”

Her mother in this video also revealed how Dolly felt under pressure to be in the marriage even after so much torture as it was a love marriage and the society would have shamed her.

It’s a curse to be born a girl in India. Sad, but true! The ground reality is still the way it was. Still, the girl has the sole responsibility of maintaining the “sanctity of marriage,” and “family’s honour and shame.” An Indian girl can never take a “wrong decision” which is why she is not given any authority to take any decision. From her birth to her death she has to be dependent on the mercy of the men in her life. Even her identity is not her own. And, even when the men in her life are the ones who exploit her, some way or the other we find a reason to blame that on her.

So go on and warn the women in your life:

“People like me, MEN, will rape you, and we won’t stop doing it. So, you don’t go out in the night or be alone.”

“People like me, MEN, will eye you with lust and we won’t stop doing it. So, cover yourself from top to toe.”

“People like me, MEN, will torture you, and we won’t stop doing it. So, suffer till you can or die.”

“People like me, MEN, will use you for our benefit and won’t stop doing it. So, either fulfill our demands or commit suicide.”

“Because, YOU ARE BORN A GIRL AND IT’S YOUR MOTHER’S MISTAKE!”

And, if you are not like these ‘MEN’ then stand up and fight for the justice of not only Dolly but for every woman. And, dear women, let’s take charge of our lives. I understand that it will be difficult, but we will make it through.

So, let us all, irrespective of our genders, join hands and say no to violence and abuse of any kind!