Srijana"s mother Draupadi Chaudhary, who came to Kathmandu from Dang after her daughter"s death, filed a written complaint against Poudel and his brother-in-law Shankar Chaudhary at the Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur. But, the police took no action against Poudel and Adhikari.[break]
A year before Srijana"s death, Meghi Chaudhary, 16, who was working as a Kamlari girl in the house of Bal Krishna Chaudhary at New Baneshwar, Kathmandu met the similar tragedy.
Meghi, whose family lives in a camp for freed Kamaiyas, or former bonded agricultural laborers, at Chaumla of Kailali district, was taken to a hospital following burn injuries and succumbed while receiving treatment at a hospital. In Meghi"s case, too, the police took no action at all even after her family lodged a written complaint against Chaudhary.
According to Freed Kamlari Development Forum, an organization of former Kamlaris, in the last five years alone, five Kamlaris have been found dead under mysterious circumstances at their owners" houses.
While Srijana and Meghi were burnt to death, Urmila Rana Tharu of Dhangadhi, Sarita Chaudhary of Tikapur and Sima Magar of Dang were found hanging. Although the employers of the dead Kamlaris claim that their domestic helps committed suicide, the forum says they were murdered. Urmila"s family had also lodged a written complaint, but like others, they, too, are awaiting justice.
´It is the police"s primary duty to arrest the accused for investigation of the crime once the victim"s family files a complaint,´ says advocate Phakala Tharu. ´But, let alone arresting the accused, the police did not even question them.´
Tharu says the reported deaths of five Kamlari girls might just be the tip of the iceberg. ´It just shows how horrendous the problem is,´ says Tharu. ´Dozens of other Kamlari girls might have been victims of sexual exploitation and torture. All the cases of injustice do not come to light.´ According to the forum, where Tharu works as a program manager, 11 unmarried Kamlari girls got pregnant while working in their owners" houses.
Similarly, 22 Kamlari girls have gone missing. ´The police never search for the missing Kamlari girls,´ says Tharu. ´The unwed mothers never get justice and instead are ostracized by the society.´
It is to protest against these atrocious circumstances that about 70 former Kamlaris have come to Kathmandu. Since last Tuesday, they have been staging sit-in protests at Ratna Park of Kathmandu to exert pressure on the government to look into the mysterious deaths of Kamlari girls. ´Unless our voices are heard, we will not return to our homes,´ says Dipa Chaudhari, 21, a former Kamlari girl from Kailali district. ´We will go to any extent to protect our sisters from being killed, raped and tortured.´
Shanta Chaudhari, a former Kamlari who became a member of the now-dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA), says they want to make their ongoing agitation decisive. ´Ours is not a new struggle,´ says she. ´We have carried out a series of protest programs in districts in the past. The government has always turned a deaf ear to our voices. That is why we came to Kathmandu. We do not want to return empty-handed this time.´
Kamlari girls" concerns are not only about their safety. They want to be rescued from their owners" houses and be rehabilitated into the society, too. ´Freedom and rehabilitation are our ultimate demands,´ said Chaudhari.
When the government declared all Kamaiyas free on July 17, 2000, Kamlaris were also defined as Kamaiyas. But, the government announced rehabilitation packages only for Kamaiyas, leaving thousands of Kamlaris in dire straits. Now, Kamlaris want the government to declare them free separately, as it did in the case of Haliyas or bonded tillers.
On September 8, 2008, a joint bench of three Supreme Court (SC) justices had directed the government to acknowledge Kamlari tradition as a form of slavery system and formulate separate laws and policies to address their issues. However, the government has not adhered to the SC"s order until now. ´It could amount to the contempt of court,´ says advocate Tharu. ´Unfortunately, even the Interim Election Council Chairman Khila Raj Regmi, who heads the current government and was a SC judge when the apex court issued the order, has failed to respect the court"s decision.´
Many mistake Kamlaris for domestic helps. But the condition under which Kamlaris work is quite different. Kamlaris are virtually sold by their parents. In Tarari districts of the far-west and mid-west regions, poor people, particularly belonging to Tharu and Chaudhary communities, often borrow money from local landlords. When they fail to pay back, they send their girl children to the landlords" homes. Some Kamlaris are even brought to Kathmandu.
Voxpop
By Madan Chaudhary
Bina Chaudhary, 19
Kailali
I was only nine when I was sent as a Kamlari to a house in Nepalgunj. My father was already working as a Haliya (tiller) for the same landlords. The family had promised that they would provide for my education. But I was never sent to a school. I was asked to look after the mentally retarded sister of the master round the clock. I was regularly beaten by the family members of the landlord for small failures. After four years, I returned home. But, I was again forced to go to another house as my family was too poor to raise me. I am now in Kathmandu to fight for girls like me. Our stay in Kathmandu is tough. But this toughness is nothing as compared to the hardships that I faced as a Kamlari. I want the government to address our problem without further delay. When I return home this time, I want to enjoy my life with my family members.
Dipa Chaudhary, 21
Kailali
When I was brought to Kathmandu, my employer promised me that he would support medical treatment of my ailing father. But I soon realized that his promise was hollow. I was just cheated. Instead, I was tormented by him. I was offered stale foods. I slept on the cold floor in the kitchen for two years. I got accustomed to endure the ordeal in silence. After my father recuperated, I returned home. My family is still living in poor circumstances.
I am here in the capital and staging sit-in protests so that others do not have to go through the same ordeal. During the protest program, many friends have even fallen sick as they are sleeping on cold floors. But our main concern is that our problems be addressed by the government. We will not call off the agitation till the government fulfills our demand.
Sita Chaudhary, 16
Kanchanpur
When I was just 7, I began to work as a Kamlari. My owner had promised to pay Rs 300 every month to my father. I was happy that my earning would support my family. But, I began to feel homesick. I was never allowed to go outside. My father did not care about me and happy because my salary went into his pocket every month. I had to sleep late and get up early in the morning. Four years ago, I broke free. But my condition has not changed.
Currently, I am studying in eighth grade. I am in the capital to exert pressure on the government to take action against the murderer of Srijana Chaudhary. The government has not listened to our plight even after five days of our protests.
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