NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) has alleged that the killing of a woman by her partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala is being used for "communal propaganda" while BJP leaders have maintained silence in similar cases where perpetrators and victims both were Hindus.
Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha Walkar and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city.
The murder occurred in May.
In an editorial in CPI(M) mouthpiece People's Democracy, the Left party alleged that the cultures that normalise domestic violence have got "new life" under the present regime with the promotion of notions of the ideal woman as one who adjusts to violence by her husband or his relatives as part of the way a good woman behaves.
Quoting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as saying "you need to vote for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi 'a strong man to prevent Aftabs in every city'", the party alleged that when Muslims are the accused, the ruling party and its "sangh cohorts, remember the need for justice for women".
"Dismembering the body of Shraddha was perpetrated by her Muslim partner, is used for the most vicious communal propaganda and claims of love Jihad," the CPI(M) said.
It claimed that around the time of this incident, in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, a young woman was killed and cut into six parts by her ex-boyfriend. Another woman in Sitapur district was killed by her husband and her body hacked into pieces and dumped in a field, the editorial stated.
"Not a single word was uttered by BJP leaders in both these cases as the accused and the victims belonged to the Hindu community.
When Dalit girls are raped or killed by upper-caste men, not a word is said.
This communalisation of violence against women in India is a highly dangerous weapon which will further subvert the judicial process and rendering of justice," the piece said.
The CPI(M) alleged that the refusal of the government to recognise marital rape as a criminal offence on grounds that it would be disruptive to the family, is a reflection of that mentality.
"This manuwadi culture is a big barrier to democratise family relations and to protect women's equality. Even more dangerous is the communalisation of every rape case depending on the religious affiliation of the victim and the accused," it said.