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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/
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/