India is progressing, what about the domestic violence?

It pained me a lot today morning when my domestic help came to my house and told her tale about the violence that her daughter had to undergo. It made me fill with anguish. At one point we mention about India progressing and women being given due consideration and of women shattering the glass ceiling.

I know a lot of my male friends will have a lot to say against the point that i am trying to make, probably some of my female friends too. But the way I felt today morning, makes me believe that women in India have still a long way to go.

There have been lots of advertisements in the media about the age of marriage for a girl child. I was surprised to know that our domestic help had got her daughter married at the age of 13. child marriage is a crime. The parents did commit the crime. And since they knew it was a crime, the marriage wasn't registered. This is ridiculous. The guy remarried and her daughter was left with 2 kids and nowhere to go. She started earning her bread by cooking at other people's household. A brave female I can say, who got up despite of the harsh personal life and started supporting herself and her kids. Still the guy wasn't satisfied. The relatives beat her up and she had to be hospitalized. After knowing her personally for some time now, I was sure she didn't deserve this kind of a life.

I was shocked and pained. The feeling that I could not do anything about this made me feel worse. Thoughts kept pouring into my mind as to how people struggle so much with life. And if they take life as it is, why does life make them struggle so much.

I got to know from my maid that this is how it works in rural Maharashtra. I have heard about such cases in Andhra, western and Northern India too.
I felt proud of being born in Goa. My Goa :) The place where girl child is received with the same love as the male child. The place where the girl child is given equal opportunities of education and work. The place where marrying off girls at a tender age is looked down upon by the society. The place where marriages according to rituals do not take place without a marriage certificate in place. The place where even in its remotest place, there is no such biased conditions for women. Why couldn't the rest of India be like my Goa.

I came to know from some of my colleagues too that their marriage is yet not registered. I came to know about the dowry system in place. I came to know how the daughters and daughter in laws have to obey strict rules and regulations about the way they talk, they dress up etc.
i compare our lives in Goa with the lives of the women who have faced all this all over India. It makes me feel so so lucky.

After listening to our maid I was feeling bad. The Government of India puts up Advertisements about empowering women, their education, their marriage age, their health and the domestic violence. But when will Indians wake up and make a change themselves? Despite of all the awareness that the Government is trying to make, why has there been so much negligence when it comes to the women?

When there is a discussion about women empowerment, I get statements like we have had great Indian women such as Lata Mangeshkar, Kalpana Chawla, Pratibha Patil, Aishwarya Rai etc. But what about the rest of the women folk, what do we represent them as? Certainly not empowered.
I am longing to see this one change in India. And I strongly feel, this change will not come until we start thinking pro actively and make a resolution to make India a better place for women.