Jonathan Martinez
Prof. Heather DeVries
ENG 101-021
13 May 2014

Judicial Corruption and its Effects

The corruption seen in the judicial system is ultimately in the grey area between helpful and hurtful depending on the situation of the individual. Asha and her family receive the upmost positive benefits of this corruption financially. In contrast Zehrunhisa is given the negative aspect of the political system and. Either way one of two outcomes is guaranteed to occur. The only deciding factor is ultimately chance.
The first to significantly benefit was primarily Asha. She was unofficially chosen by the Corporator to run her slum called Annawadi. The Corporator was the head of the political corruption and anything he said was what always went. Not only did Asha gain but so did her family. They began to save up and invest their money into expanding their home and other luxuries such as a television in which was the first in their slum town. In doing so Annawadi began to prosper of sorts as well and was no longer considered the plunging wasteland it once was.
Although in order for Asha to gain and retain all of this power she too had to become a part of the corrupted judicial system. What Asha would do to hold authority was either create or exaggerate ongoing and upcoming problems such as thieving or disputes and offering protection for a small fee. Manipulation meant money and to Asha everything was a transaction so she felt with this attitude that she could one day become a significant being or perhaps a politician. In the words of Asha “Corruption, its all corruption” (Boo 20). All these events portray how one can benefit from the mischievous and corrupt government in India.
Of course though for every good thing a negative factor usually accompanies it. Despite those who prospered, as well the city, there are those who suffered immensely such as Zehrunhisa. Zehrunhisa was a hardworking woman and a mother to decent children taking into consideration their living standards. As most people in the world enemies are always around looking to strike. In Zehrunhisa’s case her foe was a woman name Fatima. Fatima was also referred to as the One Leg due to her being crippled with a shriveled up leg. One leg was a very miserable women who barely got by and was considered by many as a sort of prostitute as she was addicted to sex bringing different men to her home frequently while still being married. She was always ridiculed and made fun of but she always had it out for Zehrunhisa more than likely of some sort of jealousy. These two particular women always had issues with each other ignited by Fatima until one day it got out of hand.
In a heated argument the two women spoke ill of each other until Fatima shouted “I will put you in a trap” (89). Shortly after the debate Fatima headed to the police station and accused Zehrunhisa of aggressively beating her. When Zehrunhisa arrived she told her side of the story and the authority alongside Asha released Fatima but kept Zehrunhisa attempting to bribe her so that her business would not be stripped and so the situation that had just occurred would be contained but she refused believing everything would be fine. As Fatima returned home that night she locked herself inside her home poured kerosene on her head and then set herself on fire while her daughter watched. When she was put out and sent to the hospital she had claimed to authorities that Karam, Abdul, and Kehkashan had set her on fire which were Zehrunhisa’s immediate family. Since her daughter said she had seen her mother do it to herself the story did not stick and One Leg had to take other actions.
Fatima than spoke to a government official named Poornima and built up a case against the Husain’s saying “In anger, I put the kerosene lying in my house on myself, and set myself on fire” (102) She claimed they forced her to burn herself and in India inciting a person to attempt suicide was an extremely