| |
|
|
|
|
Profiles of Single Women and their Struggles |
| SUTRA has collated svereal case studies on the struggles single women face in pursuit of security and sustenance in Himachal Pradesh |
| |
Chameli Devi
|
|
 Hemlata Devi
|
Jai Devi |
|
Lata Devi
|
Radha Devi
|
|
 Savitri Devi
|
Vidya Devi
|
|
Vinay Mittal
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Hemlata Devi
Hemlata Devi is from district Solan and lives in the area of Kasauli. She got married when she was 25 years old in 2000.
After she stayed at her husband's place for barely one month, the husband and his family started accusing her of worshiping a devil or evil spirit.
The in-laws accused her of having brought this spirit with her and said that she would never be able to bear a child.
When Hemlata Devi got pregnant, they said it was a devil in her womb and that she must have slept with another man, so they sent her back to her parents. At her parent's home she gave birth to a son.
Whenever a woman gets married and moves to her husband's place, she is supposed to remove her name from the Panchayat of her home village and should enter her name at her husband's place. Hemlata cancelled her name in her village, but she was never registered in her husband's Panchayat.
Three months after the birth of her son, her husband came and wanted to take her back to his place. She went with him and again within a month or two, her in-laws started accusing her of worshiping an evil spirit. Eight months after she went back to her husband's place she got pregnant the second time, but since the situation was getting worse, she decided to go to her parent's place again. During the time she stayed there, her husband called her and-since he wanted to get married again asked for a divorce from her, which she refused.
Eventually, her mother-in-law died and that was when Hemlata decided to go back and try once more to stay with her husband. When she arrived, the husband threatened her with a gun, saying that she was responsible for his mother's death because she believed in evil spirits. Hemlata Devi was frightened and returned to her parent's home the same night.
Apparently, her husband got married to a teacher soon after this incident, even though he did not get divorced from Hemlata Devi. The problem is that official action is difficult to file since there is no record in the Panchayat of her being either in her parent's or her husband's place, because one registration is cancelled and the other one was never entered.
Today, her husband even claims his two children are someone else's. The boy is six years and the girl is five years old.
Hemlata Devi says that she appreciates the fact that she can stay with her parents and in general the support that she gets especially from her mother and also from her father. They support her to go and educate herself and fight her own fight. Her three brothers and two sisters are all married and away from home but even they encourage her.
Hemlata Devi is determined not to give her husband a divorce. Because he has messed up her life, she says she does not want to make it too easy for him to start a life with another woman without suffering, since she could not prevent him from getting married without a divorce.
He paid her Rs 50,000 as alimony for her and for the upbringing of both children as a lifetime payment, but she thinks this is not enough. The additional Rs 1000 per child per month that she has been promised in court has not been paid yet.
In the one year that she has been with SUTRA, she thinks the most important thing she has learned from them is how and where to get information and knowledge. She was introduced to the ENSS through her sister.
Even in the future, she says, she will not give her husband a divorce. She would only do that if she wanted to marry again, but since she did not get happiness in the first marriage, she thinks there is no point in marrying again. Hemlata Devi is sure she can be strong enough to face all the obstacles, which come with this chosen way.
She hopes that other women also go ahead and learn about their rights and obligations so that they are well prepared to stand up and fight if necessary. Hemlata Devi is glad that there are so many women organised at ENSS, who are determined to become a stronger voice together in public.
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
