Kerala is often touted for being the only Indian state with 100 per cent literacy. Much of the credit for the same is often hogged by Communists in the state, who have been the dominant political force of Kerala for decades now. Yet, every now and then, a startling piece of news emerges from this southern state that shakes the conscience of every Indian. This time too, some shocking news has made its way out of Kerala. One would expect an educated state such as Kerala to not occupy such spaces in the news cycle, but here it is yet again.
A massive “wife swapping” racket has now been busted in Kerala. Kerala Police have arrested seven persons in connection with the exchange of partners for sex after a woman from Changanaserry lodged a complaint with the Karukachal police in the Kottayam district. The woman had lodged a complaint against her husband, who was part of the ‘couple sharing’ group, stating that he forced her to have sexual relations with another man.
Extent of Racket is Shocking
This is no small wife swapping racket. The sheer scale of the racket is shocking and shows how women are being treated as commodities by some in Kerala. According to the police, more than 1,000 couples are in these groups and they were exchanging women. Sources told the New Indian Express that several people who are in the higher echelons of society are part of this group.
A senior police official was quoted by IANS as saying, “The modus operandi is to first join the Telegram and Messenger groups and then two or three couples meet periodically. After that women are exchanged and there were even instances of a woman being shared by three men at a time. Money also changed hands as some single members in the group with some men providing their wives for money for a day of physical relationship.”
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According to a report in The Times of India, the authorities discovered social media groups where members could engage in wife-swapping, cuckolding, threesomes, and unnatural sex. Some organisations had over 5,000 members. Shockingly, some women were coerced into such acts by their husbands, while others willingly participated in such activities.
The CI of Karukachal said, “Many wives who are forced into this against their wishes are showing suicidal tendencies and so we need to investigate with extreme care. Almost 90% of the women are not comfortable with it, they are brainwashed into this.”
The size of this disturbing racket suggests how wife swapping has become normalised for many in Kerala. This antisocial practice needs to be cracked down upon immediately. The Kerala government should come up with specific laws to ban and make such activities punishable. The degree of punishment should be so harsh that nobody dares coerce their partners into such acts.
Already, Kerala is plagued with the menace of ‘love jihad’, where Islamists marry several non-Muslim women and force them to convert against their will. Surely, a mass acceptance of wife-swapping should not become the new normal in this state.