Thanks for the healthy discussion everyone.
You all raise some good points:
1) People like this do exist in society
2) Raising awareness is crucial on sensitive issues such as this which in Indian society would typically be glossed over or swept under the carpet (in reality)
3) Showing such behavior could be seen as positive reinforcement for those elements in society who are like this
Here are my 2 cents on this - you all are correct - people like this do exist, awareness is the first step for any kind of change and this could be interpreted as positive reinforcement for those who display such mentality and behavior and subsequently those who suffer through this in silence.
I do agree that for any kind of change it's extremely important to first identify the problem, raise awareness and put things in perspective.
In the context of this show however - writers need to be extremely careful and mindful about how they approach the topic and subsequently where they want to take the story.
I've said this before and I'll say this again: the concept of the show is still unclear to me - if the intent is to show a girl with stars in her eyes and an idealistic image of her prince charming aka husband only to realize reality is far removed from her expectation and how she struggles with that and how 2 ppl completely different from each other are bound together in matrimony and work things out - either by growing closer together or growing apart - they don't need to show Samrat's character as disgusting as we have seen so far.
If the show's concept is to raise awareness for brutes like Samrat who have no respect for women and think of their wife as their personal property and treat her like a pair of shoes - then in that context his characterization is more justified - by no means is this OK for him to behave in that manner but I can understand why his character must be portrayed as such. In this instance (seems like the story is headed that way) Urmi's characterization and treatment is crucial. Now that Trisha is back in town she will have moral support (the rest of her family will make her think she needs to be the "good" wife and with her "love" he'll soften) she can start giving it back.
In the real world I would hope after their show down post coming back from her parent's house she'd figure out her husband is an insensitive, chauvinistic brute of the first order and out of self respect for herself and all women kind she needs to put her foot down.
All we can do is wait and watch - I hope Urmi starts standing up for herself soon - that's the only way viewers will retain their interest.