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  • Til Death Do Us Part: 'Suicide' Reignites Demands For Domestic Viole

    TIL DEATH DO US PART: 'SUICIDE' REIGNITES DEMANDS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGISLATION

    By Nanore Barsoumian // Posted on June 26, 2013 in Featured, Headline,
    News

    Maro's lips were painted a deep pink color, her eyelids dusted with a
    pearl-hued powder, her eyebrows angular and shapely, and her cheeks
    speckled with beauty marks. She wore a bed of white roses on her
    shirt, her body resting on a golden silk sheet. Maro looked peaceful,
    as the plump hands of an older woman-possibly her mother-pulled back
    the collar of her shirt to expose the bruised neck for the curious
    photojournalist to see. That photograph, one in a series of six,
    is now a piece in a puzzle that may reveal what happened to the
    20-year-old mother of an infant girl-but only if a local Armenian
    court agrees to reopen the investigation into Maro Gulyan's untimely
    death in July 2012.

    Maro 2 Til Death Do Us Part: 'Suicide' Reignites Demands for Domestic
    Violence Legislation (photo by Anahid Hayrabedyan for Medialab.am)

    The official story-based on witness testimonies-claims Maro,
    a resident of the village of Arinch in Kotayk province, hanged
    herself in the bathroom using a belt from a bathrobe. It was said
    that suicidal tendencies ran in her blood, as two of her brothers
    had reportedly committed suicide. Investigators found no foul play,
    and closed the case.

    Her parents, however, insist Maro-four months pregnant at the time-was
    the victim of homicide. They believe her 26-year-old husband Gevorg
    may be responsible for her murder, and are pleading with prosecutors
    to reopen the case, and to look at evidence they say was previously
    ignored.

    Lusine Minasyan, a lawyer with the Women's Resource Center based in
    Yerevan, is representing Maro's father, Roman. "We don't believe that
    what occurred was suicide because there are many contradictions in the
    case, as well as unexplained circumstances," she told the Armenian
    Weekly. There are also the post-mortem photographs of Maro that may
    support the parents' narrative.

    Aside from the family lawyer, women's and human rights activists
    are also pressuring authorities to spend more time on the case. The
    autopsy report, they argue, ignored signs that could have ruled out
    the death as suicide.

    "The forensic doctor failed to note all the injuries on Maro's body,
    such as the injuries on her left leg, [the scratch] on the lower
    part of her cheek, and the bruised fingers. There were no physical
    signs of suicide on the body, such as bleeding in the eyes, the tongue
    protruding out of the mouth, and the blackening of the face and limbs,"
    Anna Nikoghosyan, the program manager at Society Without Violence
    (SWV), told the Weekly.

    The forensic doctor reportedly suggested that the bruises on Maro's
    hands occurred when she washed a rug some time before her death,
    and that the scratch on her cheek came from her own fingernail,
    as she tried to free herself from the noose. Minasyan, however, has
    argued that Maro's nails were cut short at the time of her death,
    and that the deep scratch on her face begs a different explanation.

    Domestic violence and a life of gambling

    Family and friends say that Maro's husband Gevorg was a gambling
    addict, and that the couple would often fight over finances. According
    to them, Maro would have to borrow from her family to cover her
    husband's gambling debts. Shortly before her death, he had again
    asked that she appeal to her brother for a loan. But Maro's woes did
    not end there; she was constantly subjected to physical violence,
    say her parents.

    The gambling, said Nikoghosyan, "was one of the reasons why Maro was
    always subjected to physical violence, though she never called the
    police. Unfortunately, there are no records of this except for an
    oral report."

    In the weeks leading up to her death, Maro had been more vocal about
    leaving her husband. Finally, one day in July, Maro called her twin
    brother Mher and asked him to come to her house. There, she told him
    she had decided to separate from her husband. That evening, her parents
    were to come by and bring her home. What transpired after Mher departed
    remains a mystery, as does the presence of alcohol in Maro's body.

    The account provided by Gevorg's aunt-the wife of Gevorg's uncle on
    his father's side-was accepted as fact by investigators of the case.

    The aunt claimed that she went to the couple's house and called out
    their names. Receiving no response, she walked through the house and
    into the bathroom where she saw Maro, hanging. She then got a kitchen
    knife, and while holding Maro up with one hand, she cut the belt with
    the other, and laid her on the ground.

    Minasyan does not buy this version of events. Using a dummy of
    comparable weight and height to Maro's, she replayed the scene.

    "It is inexplicable how a woman of average age and structure could hold
    that much weight- without dropping the body on the floor and without
    causing further injuries. The bathrobe belt was four centimeters
    wide, while the injury on Maro's neck was only two centimeters
    wide. If we suppose that the belt became narrower due to stretching,
    then the wound on her neck should be deeper. There were no signs of
    [strangulation from a] rope on the neck-we received this explanation
    from the lawyer," said Nikoghosyan.

    Maro's parents believe the bruise on her neck was in fact caused by
    fingers-implying someone had strangled their daughter.

    What happened to Maro's body between 7 p.m., the time the body
    was discovered according to the testimonies, and 9 p.m., when the
    hospital recorded her admittance? "How long and where was Maro
    kept? The investigating body has not compared witness testimonies,"
    said Nikoghosyan.

    nanore 2 Til Death Do Us Part: 'Suicide' Reignites Demands for Domestic
    Violence Legislation

    Case compromised?

    Instead of examining the case further, investigators chose to close
    the investigation earlier than expected, according to Minasyan.

    The husband's familial relations may have compromised the
    investigation, which led Minasyan to apply for the transfer of the
    case from Apovyan to Yerevan. "We want the case to be transferred
    to Yerevan because we have found that-aside from the fact that the
    victim's husband's family has ties with certain authority figures
    in Kotayk province-it is meaningless to leave the case in the city
    of Apovyan... We doubt that the case will be examined objectively in
    Kotayk," she said.

    While the Women's Resource Center provided the family with legal
    support, SWV helped Maro's parents publicize the case to the media.

    They argued that the real circumstances of her death continue to be
    covered up because of the absence of the rule of law, whereby disputes
    and criminal cases are often dealt with through intervention from
    neighborhood bosses. Maro's husband Gevorg, they say, is related to
    the powerful Guloyan family in Apovyan. The city's mayor is Garabed
    Guloyan, the son-in-law of the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party,
    Gagik Tsaroukyan. The mayor's father is Parliamentarian Murat Guloyan.

    "The case must be transferred to Yerevan, because we are worried
    that the local authorities influenced the investigation process. In
    the capital we hope to have a more fair, transparent, and objective
    examination of the case," said Nikoghosyan.

    Civil society ups the pressure

    To reopen the investigation, Minasyan, along with activists from the
    Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, requested the prosecutor
    general's intervention. On June 17, they congregated in front of
    his office, holding signs that read: "Maro did not commit suicide,"
    "Punish the abuser," "Don't hide the truth," "Nothing can justify
    abuse," and "Women, know your rights!"

    "We went to the prosecutor general's office because it is the body that
    can reopen the investigation. When the case was still being examined,
    we filed our complaints with the prosecutors, but they disregarded
    them and announced that they had already closed the case.

    Because the investigation had already been cut short, and the
    prosecutor in Kotayk had denied our plea to recant its decision, we
    decided to appeal to the prosecutor general. This is our last resort.

    The prosecutor general should familiarize himself with the details
    of the case and invalidate the breaches that took place during the
    investigation," said the lawyer.

    Break the silence and adopt a law

    Like Zaruhi Petrosyan's murder in 2010, Maro's case has become
    a rallying cry for the adoption of a law that specifically deals
    with domestic violence. A draft bill was proposed to the government,
    which in turn rejected it, promising to alter existing laws to extend
    protection to victims of domestic abuse. Activists say such steps
    lack effectiveness and avoid extending resources to support shelters
    and other services.

    Maro's case also highlights the need for widespread advocacy work
    on domestic violence. "This is important for all women and girls in
    Armenia. We simply don't know how many deaths have been covered up
    as accidents and suicides. Abusers never accept responsibility for
    their acts. We saw this in the case of Zaruhi Petrosyan, whose husband
    wanted to portray her death as an accident, and we see this with Maro
    as well," the director of the Women's Support Center in Yerevan, Maro
    Matosian, told the Armenian Weekly. "Such high-profile cases allow
    us to bring the subject of domestic violence to the attention of the
    population, to expose the dangers of silence, to break the stigma of
    shame, and to make it clear to authorities that these issues cannot
    be brushed off."

    Matosian, whose organization provides support to victims of domestic
    violence, believes that until the government adopts a law against
    domestic violence, it bears responsibility for the deaths that result
    from that violence, as it provides no support for victims, including
    shelter and programs to reintegrate them into society.

    Maro's family insists that she continuously suffered physical abuse,
    yet not a single report was filed with the police. Why? Perhaps it was
    the stigma attached to it, or her distrust in the police, or the need
    to resolve disputes internally, without interference from outsiders.

    "Maro's case is an unfortunate example for family members who remain
    silent, and for neighbors and friends who look the other way,"
    said Matosian.

    nanore 3 300x202 Til Death Do Us Part: 'Suicide' Reignites Demands for
    Domestic Violence LegislationIrrespective of the exact circumstances of
    her death, Maro could have been alive today if the proper avenues were
    available. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, allegedly marked by abuse,
    it is clear that the young mother was not able to escape her tragic
    demise. Maro's death highlights yet again the need for widespread
    awareness campaigns on domestic violence. Armenia's government must
    be made to spearhead a nationwide effort, and commit to taking
    the necessary steps-from adopting a law to launching campaigns,
    establishing shelters and hotlines, providing legal help, and training
    doctors and medical professionals to properly address cases of domestic
    violence. Their inaction fosters more violence.

    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/06/26/til-death-do-us-part-suicide-reignites-demands-for-domestic-violence-legislation/

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