In 2015, Tarang Chawla‘s sister, Nikita, was murdered by her partner. He is now a writer and activist against men’s violence.
Following Saturday’s election result, Tarang penned a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. He urges us to do the same.
“If you would like to do something,” he posted on Facebook, “then feel free to print out my letter and send it along with your own.”
Below is a copy of the letter Tarang sent the Prime Minister, which has been republished here with full permission.
The Hon Scott Morrison
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Prime Minister,
Congratulations on your election victory. You are quite the miracle worker, I write to you because you believe in miracles. I do too.
In January 2015, my sister Nikita was murdered by her partner. She was 23. Niki had a bright future ahead of her. It is a miracle she achieved as much as she did, considering the ongoing abuse she endured that resulted in her violent and untimely death.
On Saturday 18 May 2019 at 8:45pm, as the average punter’s votes were being counted that led to your miracle win, a woman named Gihan was killed in Randwick, NSW. Gihan was a nurse, and a mother of three. Sadly, I can imagine the pain of her loved ones.
Gihan was allegedly murdered by her husband, left to die in a pool of her own blood. As I sat, a glass of Australian red in my left hand, and remote in my right, like many Australians flicking channels to see who would emerge victorious, Gihan would have known her fate had been sealed only to ask herself: “Is this how my life ends?”
This is the fate of at least one Australian woman a week.
Prime Minister, it will take nothing short of a miracle to address this issue. Are you up to the task? What do you intend to do about the death of all those whose voices have been permanently silenced by the men who claim to love them? Will you keep them safe?
Prime Minister, my contact details are below. I await your response.
Sincerely,
Tarang Chawla
Tarang’s letter was originally published on Facebook. You can see the original post right here:
Top Comments
I hope Justice here is swift and resounding. A PM cannot intervene directly in a matter before the courts else the defence can claim sovereign interference, that their client is only on trial due to political pressure from above.
What’s particularly frustrating with DV crimes is there tend to be so many turning points along the path where the crime could have been avoided. Yes the attacker shouldn’t attack, nobody argues that and maybe the punishment and deference needs to be even higher. But the victims must be supported with a system that is adequately resourced so they can separate with confidence and certainty before things get out of hand. What that system looks like I think we know, or are at least improving on, let’s hope funding remains a high priority.
The victims need support, absolutely, but more needs to be done early on for the perpetrators too. We really need to start looking at what causes and contributes to the violence - things like drug and alcohol abuse, for a start. Anger management classes, therapy, drug and alcohol counselling.
Thank you for sharing this.