Many of Orissa’s 40,000 unwed mothers are minors from tribal areas or remote villages. Ostracised by their neighbours and braving daily taunts from their own kin, these girls have none to call their own, writes Subrat Dash
Had you asked Deepti in those days to name her deepest
desire, you would have got just one answer: Take me somewhere, anywhere – away from this hellhole. For, ever since she was born, she can’t recall a single day when her parents, both daily wagers, had not fought. On the rare occasions when there was peace at “home”, Deepti, now 16, felt like she had received some rare and priceless gift.
Then one day Deepti met a man in whom she thought she had found her deliverer. It took no time for the shrewd Gatikrushna to see how easily the vulnerable girl could be seduced. His kind words and the cheap baubles he gifted Deepti soon won her over, and within days they became “lovers”.
By the time Deepti realised what this man was all about, she was already six months pregnant. When her parents asked Gatikrushna to marry their daughter, he bluntly denied that they had ever had a physical relationship. And by the time they got to file a case against him the scoundrel had disappeared.
Deepti was just 14 when she became an unwed mother. Anyone familiar with the Indian countryside will not need to be told what Deepti went through in Bhusandpur village of Khurda district, Orissa. Because now it was not only her hut that she dreaded – it was the entire village. Even her friends and relatives did not spare their barbs, all pointed at the “bastard” she was carrying. As for Gatikrushna – he did finally surrender in the court, but was soon freed. Ask Deepti whether she still dreams of marrying him, and she snaps back: “Marry him? Why, I want him hanged! I would do anything to have him hanged!”
Deepti is currently an inmate of Sanjeevani Ma Ghara (Sanjeevani Mothers Home) run by an NGO in Palaspalli – an upscale locality in Bhubaneswar. The home shelters unwed mothers – many of whom, like Deepti, are in their teens or their early twenties. But clearly, Orissa which has the largest number of unwed mothers in the country – 40,000 – needs more such homes and a criminal justice system that will bring rogues like Gatikrushna to book.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
Had you asked Deepti in those days to name her deepest
desire, you would have got just one answer: Take me somewhere, anywhere – away from this hellhole. For, ever since she was born, she can’t recall a single day when her parents, both daily wagers, had not fought. On the rare occasions when there was peace at “home”, Deepti, now 16, felt like she had received some rare and priceless gift.Then one day Deepti met a man in whom she thought she had found her deliverer. It took no time for the shrewd Gatikrushna to see how easily the vulnerable girl could be seduced. His kind words and the cheap baubles he gifted Deepti soon won her over, and within days they became “lovers”.
By the time Deepti realised what this man was all about, she was already six months pregnant. When her parents asked Gatikrushna to marry their daughter, he bluntly denied that they had ever had a physical relationship. And by the time they got to file a case against him the scoundrel had disappeared.
Deepti was just 14 when she became an unwed mother. Anyone familiar with the Indian countryside will not need to be told what Deepti went through in Bhusandpur village of Khurda district, Orissa. Because now it was not only her hut that she dreaded – it was the entire village. Even her friends and relatives did not spare their barbs, all pointed at the “bastard” she was carrying. As for Gatikrushna – he did finally surrender in the court, but was soon freed. Ask Deepti whether she still dreams of marrying him, and she snaps back: “Marry him? Why, I want him hanged! I would do anything to have him hanged!”
Deepti is currently an inmate of Sanjeevani Ma Ghara (Sanjeevani Mothers Home) run by an NGO in Palaspalli – an upscale locality in Bhubaneswar. The home shelters unwed mothers – many of whom, like Deepti, are in their teens or their early twenties. But clearly, Orissa which has the largest number of unwed mothers in the country – 40,000 – needs more such homes and a criminal justice system that will bring rogues like Gatikrushna to book.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
