In the eight districts of Province 2, number of the cases of violence against women have seen a steep rise over the past three years—despite the election of local representatives in the centre, province and local levels.
Ajaya Anuragi: Centre of Investigative Journalism-Nepal
On Bhadra 18, 2076, Reetadevi Yadav from Bhagaha Municipality-2 in Mahottari lodged a complaint at the District Police Dhanusha’s Women, Children and Elderly Service Centre (women cell), alleging her husband, father-in-law and two brothers-in-law of depriving her of food and clothes, exacting mental torture and forcing her out of the house. A mother of two boys, she was married in 2015 according to Hindu tradition. “They came together to manhandle, torture, and eventually, force me out of the home. I seek punishment against them and justice,” the complaint read.
After she was forced out of the home, she started staying at her maternal home, in Chikana-5, Siraha. According to District Police Office Dhanusha’s inspector of police Ashok Kumar Jha, Reeta’s husband is currently on the run. But the police has said that Reeta has returned to her home after agreement by both the parties in the police’s mediation.
In another case, Bharati Karna from Janakpur Submetropolis-24 filed a complaint at district police office alleging her husband of adultery. She further alleges her husband, Pramod Lal, of staying with another woman and not providing medical expenses while she was sick.
Bharati and Pramod had married 25 years ago and have three children together—one son aged 20 and two daughters, 17 and 12. “We have forwarded the complaint to local police post to investigate and forward the judicial process,” inspector Jha says.
But the process has not moved ahead, even though the district police office had informed the zero mile police post with original document of complaint on Bhadra 26. Arun Kumar Mahato, deputy inspector at the post, said that no hearing has taken place about the complaint yet.
“We have asked the alleged to attend our office,” Mahato said. “We will try to mediate a discussion between both the parties and reach a conclusion offering justice to the victim.” But Bharati said that the police has not paid due attention to her complaint.
In a similar case, Reenadevi Mahara of Shahidnagar Municipality-2 filed a complaint at district police office alleging her husband, Shyam Mahara, of physical abuse and adultery on 2076 Bhadra 22. Reena was married to Shyam four years ago and is currently pregnant while she already has a two-year-old son to tend to.
According to Reena, Shyam has ruthlessly beaten her until she lost her senses and left her at the provincial hospital in Janakpur. Inspection Jha said that Reena’s father-in-law Bhola Mahara paid for her medication and took her home on Bhadra 29, 2076. Reena was admitted to Godavari Modern Hospital following pregnancy labor on Kartik 24 2076. According to the hospital’s manager, Sushil Kumar Sah, Reena’s in-laws had deposited Rs5000 in advance after admitting her.
“The surgery was performed on her the same day, and she gave birth to the child but the child was admitted to NICU following complications,” said Sah. “The mother-child duo was discharged on Kartik 29 after treatment.”
But Reena and her newborn son were at the hospital till Mansir 3 because Reena’s in-laws didn’t return with money. The treatment cost Rs61800 in total, according to Sah—including Rs38250 for the treatment of the mother, Rs 14550 for the son and Rs9000 for medicine.
On Bhadra 15, 2075, Ushadevi Das from Devanpokhari in Janakpur Submetropolis-3 filed a complaint against her husband, Santosh Das, who allegedly beat and forced her out of home, all because she didn’t bring dowry. She lodged the complaint at District Police Office Dhanusha, against her husband and mother-in-law Bechandevi Das.
Usha was married to Santosh three years ago according to traditional Hindu rituals. Usha’s complaint reads that she was abused at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law after she gave birth to a baby girl. Usha currently stays at her maternal home.
The police on Jestha 27, 2076 called both the parties and brokered an agreement to not repeat the incident. But once she returned home, Usha reported of further abuse and filed another complaint on Asoj 5 2076 about domestic violence.
Usha’s mother-in-law Bechanidevi filed a complaint on the second week of Asoj 2076 against Usha’s complaint. The court has issued a stay order on Bechanidevi, hence the police hasn’t proceeded forward to punish Bechanidevi, according to inspector Jha.
All the more unsafe outside of home
Documents show that violence against women is equally pervasive outside of home. On Asar 12, 2076, Amit Kumar Baitha, a helper at an eye hospital in Malangawa Municipality-9, Sarlahi, murdered Supriya Bharati, 27, who is the wife of the hospital chief Dipendra Kumar Rajak. Baitha hit a hammer on Bharati’s head on the second floor of the hospital and injured her four-year old son. Police said the incident was outcome of personal feuds.
After the incident, the district police has arrested Baitha and filed a lawsuit for murder. Baitha is currently under custody.
An awareness programme about violence against women.
On Asar 10, 2076, a neighbor severely beat Fekandevi, 55, of Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality-7 in Saptari. She was taken to Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital and Golden Hospital in Biratnagar. According to spokesperson of provincial police DSP Gyan Kumar Mahato, the perpetrator Shyam Ram is currently in custody and a lawsuit has been filed against him.
On 12 Asar 2076, Leeladevi Yadav and her sister-in-law Dhunadevi Yadav from Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality-8 were beaten to severe injury by her neighbours. Forty-five year old Balaram Yadav and his sons Ramesh and Sanjay were the perpetrators acting on revenge of an old feud.
On 10 Bhadra 2075, an eight-month old girl child was raped and murdered in Aurahi Rural Municipality in Mahottari. The perpetrator was Bharat Sah from Bhagaha Rural Municipality-6 who had abducted the child and then raped and murdered her. Sah has been jailed following an order from the Mahottari district court.
Eighteen-year old Mukesh Goit from Chiraiya Tole in Shahidnagar Municipality-1, Dhanusha, burned his wife Nirmaladevi alive on Baisakh 5, 2076. The police investigation found that Mukesh had sprinkled kerosene on Nirmala’s body and burnt her alive after Nirmala found about Mukesh’s relationship with his sister-in-law, Shyamdevi. Nirmala died on Baisakh 16 while undergoing treatment at Burn Hospital in Kirtipur, Kathmandu.
According to Shekhar Khanal, superintendent of police at District Police Office, Dhanusha, a case has been filed against both Mukesh and Shyamdevi. “We have submitted the findings of our investigation to Dhanusha District Court,” said SP Khanal. “The court has ordered to jail both the alleged perpetrators at Jaleshwore-based prison.”
On Jestha 7, 2076, Chandreshwore Kherbar Yadav of Haltalewa tole in Siraha in partnership with Tapeshwore Kherbar Yadav, Manjudevi Yadav and Dharmeshwore Kherbar Yadav murdered his wife Reetudevi Yadav, according to police investigation. Yadav is currently in custody as ordered by the district court.
Nineteen-year old Ranju Yadav from Saptari’s Agnisaira was pregnant when she was murdered by her in-laws Leeladevi and Mahendra Yadav, on Shrawan 5, 2076. She’d already given birth to a daughter, who was ten months old. Leeladevi and Mahendra are currently in Rajbiraj jail.
DIG Pradhyumna Karki, chief of province 2’s police office, said that the number of registered cases are on the rise because people have become aware to file a complaint after the incident. “Previously, the incidents would be solved by negotiation among themselves,” he said. “These days, they file complaint of every little case to us. So the number is increasing.”
A Janakpur-based NGO Women Rehabilitation Centre has sheltered a total of 50 women who faced abuse between January 18 and June 19, 2019. Fifteen women have children who were also abused.
By the statistics
According to Province-2 Police Office, Janakpur, in the fiscal year 2073/74, a total of 309 complaints of violence against women were lodged in eight districts in the province, out of which only eight were domestic abuse cases. In the fiscal year 2074/75, however, out of total 4519 complaints, 3685 are domestic abuse cases from the same eight districts. In the fiscal year, 2075/76, out of 5415 complaints of violence against women, 4617 are related to domestic abuse. Spokesperson of Provincial Police Office DSP Gyan Bahadur Mahator says, “The statistics shows how the province is becoming more insecure and dangerous to women. There are the target of abuse inside or outside of home. Everybody should be active to control violence against women.”
According to the Police Office, a total of 125 women were killed across the country in the last three years. There were 582 cases of rape, and 287 attempts to rape. In the fiscal year 2073/74, there were 116 rapes in the province and 73 rape attempts. In 2074/75, the number was 170 and 114. In 2075/76, a total of 296 cases of rape and 100 rape attempts were registered with the police.
Dowry and child marriage
According to advocate Rekha Jha, while previously cases of domestic abuse would not be made public, gradually that’s beginning to change, with more women filing complaints to the police and women’s rights activists. Women are no longer hiding the cases, Jha said. “In most cases, the perpetrator seems to have been drunk before rape. The unchecked alcoholism is a factor, so is the easy availability of alcoholic beverages in the villages.”
Women with complaint at women cell of District Police Office, Dhanusha.
Rekha Dutta, who works at the provincial office of National Human Rights Commission, said the main reasons behind violence against women are dowry system and illiteracy. “The abuse of social network has also increased violence,” she said. “The law is in place but the implementation is loose, giving rise to impunity.”
Dutta concludes that political pressure and influence in brushing aside the cases is problematic and has given to a rise in impunity. Deputy Mayor of Janakpur Submetropolis Reetadevi Mishra said while its mostly the women who are the victims of abuse, there are men too in some cases who suffer at the hands of women. In the judicial committee, many men come with a proposal for divorce after suffering abuse at the hands of women.
While previously, it was only the women who could file a case for divorce, the new legal provision also allows men to file a case for divorce. According to Yagyaprasad Acharya, registrar at the Dhanusha District Court, the new provision has given to a rise in cases of violence against women. “While previously, the men were afraid to abuse women for fear of a divorce, that fear has subsided now,” said Acharya.
Acharya argues that the widespread use of social media has also contributed to the increment in violence against women. Another reason is the dowry system, where women from low-class family are married to rich men and illiterate women are married to literate or rich men after providing a hefty amount in dowry. This mismatch in social status and age causes dysfunction in marriage, which is a major reason behind increasing cases of abuse, Acharya said.
Today, there are people’s representative in all three tiers of government–central, provincial and local. All three tiers of government claim it to be their prority to control cases of violence against women. Province 2 Chief Minister has announced a campaign called “Beti Padhau, Beti Bachau’—meaning, educate your girl to save her.
But the campaign has not yet made a dent in controlling the cases in mid-Tarai region. Padam Prasad Pokharel, information officer at the minister’s office, said the campaign focuses on inspiring girls to study. “The campaign aims to curb child marriage and inspire girls to study,” said Pokharel. “The campaign also aims to make girls secure.”
The provincial ministry of social development has been providing training on self-security to the girls from public schools. Minister of Social Development Nawalkishore Sah said that the trainings started last year to control abuses, violence and rape. “We have continued trainings this year as well after the schools said it has been effective,” Sah said.
The ministry spent Rs11 million last year to train girls from 64 public schools across eight districts in the province. Beside this, however, the government has taken no effective measure to curb the violence. The Internal Affairs and Law ministry, tasked with curbing violence against women, has not come up with a concrete measure to control the violence. According to Nitu Dube, a section officer at the ministry, the ministry staged street plays in various cities across the province to raise awareness about violence against women. Dube says, “Now we are focusing on dowry system, and planning for a ‘Safe Girls Campaign’.”
The provincial ministry of law is preparing to pass an act regarding violence against women called Act to Control Violence based on Gender and Domestic Abuse, according to Surendra Mahato, law officer at the ministry. “The law aims to control the dreadful condition of women in the province,” he said.
(According to Provincial Police Office, violence against women entail rape, rape attempt, polygamy, allegation of witchcraft, illicit abortion, untouchability, unnatural masturbation, domestic abuse, pedophilia, murder, suicide abetment, and abduction, among others.)
