Today is the first day of Navarathri where Hindus celebrate the goddess for 10 days.

In a religion that celebrates its female goddesses equal to the male divinity, it is quite sad to see how we treat women.

Last week, a woman was brutally beaten up by her husband and his friend in Port Dickson and it was caught on video.

She was in critical condition from the severity of her wounds. The police were quick to apprehend the suspects on the very day itself.

I spent the last week monitoring infamous Indian Facebook pages that thrive on regularly putting down woman. Some didn’t even bother sharing the video, though these same pages have a habit of sharing videos of schoolkids swearing or fighting.

In less than 24 hours, another video surfaced with a voiceover accusing the victim of cheating on her husband and hence why he acted as such.

Now those pages sprang at sharing this video, even though there was no proof or evidence or even a face behind the voice that made the allegations.

Hero-worshipping an abuser

And the moment this second video came to surface, a sizeable number of people started hero-worshipping the husband, making statements such as - “she deserves it”, “no man will beat up if no reason”, “let this be a lesson to all the cheating women”, and so forth.

There were even vile comments suggesting she should be raped or gang-raped, with volunteers coming forward to join in the act. Yes, such vile creatures exist.

On the grounds of her cheating allegations, do we know how long she has been separated from the husband? Do we know why she is separated from him?

Do we know people can choose to separate from each other? Yes, people can choose to have a divorce. Don’t men cheat? So, should women too whack them up?

Let’s for a second just say those allegations of cheating are true. My question is - still - what right or justification do you have to physically harm someone?

If someone cheated on you (male or female) - leave them; file for divorce on the grounds of 'cheating'. The courts will easily give it to you. You don’t need to resort to violence or end up in jail for it.

When has violence against women been okay? When has it been okay to utter phrases like “she wants to be gang-raped and that’s why she's looking for another man”?

Six hundred and eighty-five domestic abuse cases were reported by Indians last year. This doesn’t count the women who do not report abuse due to no proof, family objections, or mostly fear of shaming the family.

Condoning culture of violence

Where do we learn the culture of violence? When did it become okay to hit someone?

Pages are sprouting around Facebook to demean indian women. Who are the admins of these pages? Why are you posting such things? Women can’t take selfies? Women can’t dress up as they wish?

If a women wears western clothes, you judge and put her down in posts and a gang of people from god knows where turn up to comment equally vile comments on these posts.

Women can’t complain about sexual harassment either because the moment they do, they are told, "It's because of the way you dress, because the selfies you take are too sexy. If you are okay with 1,000 likes, then you should be okay if men stare at you." What kind of response is that?

Pray tell, where in the vedas does it state that this is how a woman should dress?

Have you seen the sculptures of women in temples in india? Most do not have their upper torso covered because until the 10th century, the saree blouse hadn’t been created. Those sculptures are of devis and the everyday life of people in that era.

Did you know the culture of clothing and traditions we practice today is very much influenced by the invasion and restrictions imposed by Muslim and British invaders?

Not what Hinduism promotes

So what is it you are trying to uphold in a religion that has Shiva Shakti to equate that men and women are equal?

These pages are creating a breeding ground for contempt towards women. A means to justify violence against women, because it's okay; she's a ‘bad’ girl.

Do you know what Hinduism’s core message is?

“Do good and have good thoughts always”

“Do not hurt others, practise ahimsa (non-violence)”

What good do you get by putting down women?

What good do you do by judging someone by their clothes?

What ahimsa are you practising by hero-worshiping an abuser?

What ahimsa are you practising by justifying violence on a woman?

What use is it for you to go to the temple tomorrow and pray to the goddess when you justify violence against women? Ask yourself that.

Think. Your actions, your words, reflect not only you but the whole community, and your comments are nothing short of barbarism.

PS: this is not a male-bashing post, this is for the sites and people that justify abuse or the demeaning of woman who do not fit their narrow minds.