KATHMANDU, Nov 28: Internationally, a 16 days of activism campaign  against gender-based violence is being observed from November 25. Many civil society organizations, security forces, governmental agencies, and international organizations have joined 16 days of activism to unite for the elimination of violence against women and girls.

However, justice isn’t served to the real victims in Nepali society. The delay in justice to be delivered is due to complex legal procedures. Neha Chaudhary, a domestic violence victim related to dowry is one of them who have awaited a year for justice and her faith in the judicial system of Nepal has faded. So, she has appealed for help in pursuit of justice.

Neha is a resident of Mahottari who fell in love with Pankaj Chaudhary and got married to him on March 9, 2022. After four months of their marriage, Pankaj started to treat Neha violently giving her physical and mental torture. Neha accused her husband Pankaj of beating and abusing her which seems to be an apparent case of dowry-related violence.

According to Neha, her husband and his family members began abusing her within a few days after her marriage. Neha said, “Our’s was a love marriage which was conducted observing the social rituals and traditions. My maternal home is in Aurahi, Mahottari, and my husband’s home is in Ramgopalpur, Mahottari. Only a few days after the wedding, my husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law (husband’s sister) began abusing me at home.”

Neha said that about Rs 12.5 million was spent on furniture, 20 tolas of gold, among other items, as per her in-laws’ wish. Similarly, she said that her husband repeatedly asked her to buy a house in Kathmandu. “My husband started beating me as he was easily influenced by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Due to this, I received severe stomach injuries and I bled while urinating,” said Neha.

She filed a case against Pankaj accusing him of domestic violence and demanding dowry. Her husband’s family even didn’t allow her to enter the home after that. The District Court, Mahottari, ordered Neha’s family members to let her enter the house. But after Pankaj and his family did not allow Neha to enter the house, Pankaj was arrested in December, 2022 and brought to the District Police Office, Mahottari.

Without informing Neha and her lawyer, bail was provided to Pankaj and the legal procedure to resolve this case has been delayed. Despite having ample evidence including injured photos, bank statements of transferring money as dowry, Neha said that the judicial system has been dilly-dallying to provide justice complaining insufficient valid documents.

After the bail of Pankaj, other members of his family padlocked the house and are absconding. Neha has registered a case against six people including her husband.

She said that she pleaded with the local representatives to take action against Pankaj and his family. But when no one took interest, she returned from there with disappointment.

Lawyer Rinku Kumari Yadav, who is fighting Neha’s cases, gave the information that the next hearing on the case has been scheduled for November 30.

Neha has filed five cases against her husband Pankaj. The lawyer Yadav said that Pankaj has been charged with criminal offenses related to domestic violence, scrapping of documents, fraud, living stipend, and dowry. In the dowry case, compensation worth Rs 5 million and five years of imprisonment have been demanded.

Neha said, “Earlier, I was ready to settle down and live with Pankaj despite registering all these cases if he had apologized for his mistakes. But a year has passed and till now Pankaj has neither texted nor tried to communicate with me. I have been facing humiliations and hurdles each day because of him. Pankaj along with his family is happily living in India. But each day, I have been crying and waiting for justice. So, there is no chance of forgiving him for making my life a hell.”

She said, “Justice delayed is justice denied. I posted my incident on social media a year ago which went viral and sparked the concern of all. Despite it being more than one year, so far nothing has been decided in the case. Pankaj and his family escaped and settled in India and the process of the case has been stopped. Despite seeing these monsters running away after ruining my life, the law has not taken any concrete decision. Until now, the court has not pronounced the decision on the domestic violence case. How long will I have to tolerate Pankaj and Pankaj's family hatred and the nature of victim-blaming from society.”

She added , “I stayed silent for one year with my faith in the law intact. Some said that I was in collusion with Pankaj, some said that I was silent after taking money, but in fact I neither colluded nor took any money. I went everywhere and fought for my self-respect, but everyone blamed me. I waited for a year  having faith in the law but justice was not served to me. Pankaj and his family become more courageous and have been spending a peaceful life in India making my life a hell. So, I can't keep quiet and let things go. I have also written on social media, demanding justice.”

 
• dowry
 
• judicial_system
 
• justice