For the Dalit, it is his Wife, or his Life

Bihar man ostracized for refusing to give wife to rich man

[JOHN DAYAL’s NOTE: The sexual exploitation of Dalit women is no less than physical violence against the men, to the economic throttling of the entire community. Though this incident took place in Bihar, it is not unknown in most states of India – including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Kerala has had its own history. The National Commission for Women, and its equivalents in the States have failed to take cognizance of this crime, and it is only that police have acted on the rare formal complaints. A huge conspiracy of silence involves the aggressors, the victims, the police and the political apparatus. One hopes that the highlighting of this case in the national media will move the National Human Rights Commission, the Central and State government and Non Governmental Organisations to challenge what are otherwise seen as a social reality. Counsel Smita Nirula in her pioneering work “Broken People’’ for the Human Rights Watch recorded the testimony of Dalit women who have been victims of sexual exploitation in rural and urban areas of India]

Bihar man ostracized for refusing to give wife to rich man

[IANS Monday, August 27, 2007 at 23:14]
Patna: A poor landless labourer and his family have been ostracised in a Bihar village for his refusal to hand over his wife to a rich man.
Rudo Mandal, 40, and his wife Sushila Devi, 30, have been forced to go hungry along with their six children after they were threatened with dire consequences by the henchmen of the person who demanded the worker to give him his wife.
"First they demanded that I hand over my wife and when I refused they ostracised us and threatened to eliminate us," Mandal, a labourer in Haripur village under Daghmdaha block in Purnea district, about 300 km from here, said Monday.
Mandal along with his wife and children met the Purnea district superintendent of police, seeking security for the family. "We have informed the SP about the threat to our lives and sought security," he said. Sushila Devi said they have been running from pillar to post for justice, but to no avail. "We were socially ostracised for trying to protect our honour," she said.
Mandal was denied work in the village under the orders of the rich man. The villager said he and his family had met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his Janata durbar or public meet a few weeks ago. "We were promised justice, but nothing has happened so far," he said.
The family was planning to migrate from Bihar if they failed to get justice. Mandal's case is not an isolated one. There are several such instances in rural Bihar where powerful landed people still behave like feudal lords of the past.
NO JUSTICE: The family met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, but didn't get justice.
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