ARJUN POUDEL

Like her mother, thirteen years old Shital (name changed) does not have to become Kamlari (bonded labor) and go to the masters´ house to be exploited physically as well as mentally for life long. But she understands that she has to undergo a long battle for her original identity.

The fifth-grader, who has been residing at a hostel of Bijayanagar Free Kamari Camp in Kailali, is mature enough to understand the injustices she and her mother faced. She also has to prove that she is not an illegitimate child but her biological father, who abandoned her and her mother, is illegitimate. However, she does not know how to go about it.

Like other students in school, Shital does not have a surname, and that quite disturbs her. Her teacher said that she is good at her studies but often gets sidetracked by her identity crisis.

“She becomes emotional and starts crying when someone talks about her identity,” said Fakaraj Tharu, Legal advisor of Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF).

Until a few years ago, Shital wanted to know who her father is. Later she stopped showing interest in this. Tharu said that Shital often tried to avoid being in a group and preferred to stay lonely.

"She has been passing through mental trauma. She often questioned who was she and from where she came from," Tharu said adding, "Neither she complains, nor does she demand anything."

Republica contacted her but she prefers only to talk about her studies. She said that she has been preparing for the final examination.

Shital was born before her mother got married. Her mother Sita, 30, became pregnant, while working as Kamlari in the capital. Sita´s master Minendra Rijal, who was a teacher then, had brought her to the capital promising to pay Rs 6,000 annually. Sita did not dare to challenge the decision of her family who wanted to send her off to Rijal´s house as Kamlari. Back then, Kamlari culture was quite prevalent in the Tharu community.

As soon as she reached the capital, her bad days started. Verbal and physical abuse became part of her life. Rijal who used to live in a rented flat near Shivadarshan Cinema Hall at that time would treat her badly.

Rijal started taking sexual favor, whenever he found her alone. When she got pregnant he sent her to her village with an unknown person. The man abandoned Sita at Tikapur Bus Park and fled. Sita managed to reach her home but the poor family could fight against injustice and preferred to suffer in silence. After a few days, Sita gave birth to Shital.

Sita´s mother Hema Chaudhary said that her daughter stayed two years at Rijal´s home and returned home pregnant. "He even did not pay us the money he had committed to us," she complained.

She said that after they approached the police, Rijal´s brother and sister-in-law came to her home to provide Rs 25 thousand to her family, which was spent on Sita´s medication. After that, no one has turned up to ask about their condition.

Hema said that they send Sita as a Kamlari due to their financial compulsion. "Everyone from our community used to send their daughters as Kamlaris then and we were no exception," she said.

After the government abolished Kamaiya and Kamlari tradition in 2000, Shital and her mother got shelter at Bijayanagar Kamlari Camp.

Sita and Shital are just representative figures. Like Shital, 11 children, who were born of unmarried mothers, have been residing in five different hostels operated by the FKDF. Those children have been deprived of their basic rights like scholarships and others and all are haunted with an identity crisis.

According to Tharu, there are a lot of gruesome events of killing and exploitation of Kamlaries.

Tharu recounted a barbaric event that occurred just three years ago, which he said that he cannot forget easily. A fourteen-year-old- girl, whose father was drunkard, sent her as Kamlari for just 1,000 salaries a month.

Her master asked her to work at home in the day and in a hotel at night. She did not have to work at the hotel but had to involve in the flesh trade in the hotel. The man brought customers from India and the girl had to involve in a sexual act with those people.

At the beginning the girl endured all this silently but when it becomes too much and hard for her to tolerate, she protested. Then the master strangled her to death and hanged her by a ceiling fan.

The police recovered the body and conducted a postmortem and handover the corpse to the family. The report suggested suicide as the man had bribed the authorities to hide his crime.

But when women rights activists smelled rats behind the case, they immediately pressurized the local administration for a fair re-postmortem.

The administration was compelled to conduct a re-examination of the dead body. The report suggests the girl was murdered after rape. Semen and pubic hair of man was found in her vagina. The alleged murderer was arrested but freed on a bail after sometime. The victim´s family has been waiting for justice.

Tharu said that Kamlari culture is still prevalent in society though in a much lesser degree. Hundred of minor innocent girls are still been compelled to face modern-day slavery.

The FKDF said that 89 Kamlari girls have been still serving in the capital and no one knows in which condition they have been living. Tharu informed that 27 Kamlaris have been missing from the homes of the landlords and five Kamlaris were murdered by their masters.

A high-level committee has been formed to trace the whereabouts of the missing Kamlaris.

The committee is also tasked to rescue Kamlaris, who has been working in various parts of the country.

Tharu informed that the committee recently rescued eight Kamlaris from different parts of the capital.

Published on: 30 December 2013 | Republica