The Hindu : `Auctioned' girl commits suicide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 20, 2002

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`Auctioned' girl commits suicide

By Aarti Dhar

Kesari

DHAMTARI (Chhattisgarh) AUG. 19. Rebelling against the tradition of auctioning "wayward'' girls, 18-year old Kesari of the Gond tribe allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison in the house of Babulal, a labourer who "bought" her at a tribal "maha sabha" in her village Gohanala of Dhamtari district.

Kesari was "publicly auctioned" on July 14 after she was reportedly "caught" with a boy a week ago. Babulal, who "purchased" her for Rs. 551 — in front of over 500 people from 16 villages who came to witness the "mahasabha," chaired by their tribal chief, Halal Singh Netam — insisted on marrying her immediately but she wanted him to wait for a month. It was Netam who pronounced the public auctioning of Kesari. Fearing social boycott, the girl's family remained a silent witness — so much so that her relatives did not even bring Kesari's body to the village for cremation.

A complaint of unnatural death has been registered at the Sihawa police station but no action has been taken so far. In his complaint, Babulal has mentioned that he had "purchased" Kesari in a "public auction."

Kesari's sister, Kamla, said that when Kesari was "caught" with Bhurru, a shopkeeper, both of them pleaded innocence. But when the village elders or the `siyanman' asked Bhurru whether he would marry Kesari, he refused, apparently under family pressure. He has since returned to his village.

Kesari, a class ten student, was employed as a health worker in Ganga Shakti, a local health organisation. She had known Bhurru for about a year. Things apparently went wrong as the villagers objected to their physical relationship. When things became public on July 6, the villagers held a meeting on July 9. Left with no choice, Kesari had to accept the verdict of the sarpanch, Sop Singh, who imposed a fine of Rs. 500 on her family and Rs. 1,000 on the boy. It was also decided to hold a "mahasabha" on July 14 to which people from 16 Gond villages were "invited." At the "public auctioning," six boys came up for "bidding." Kesari was given the ``choice" to touch the feet of one of them indicating her preference, but she refused to do so. Subsequently, Babulal "bought" her. Her family was made to pay Rs. 1,500 and Bhurru's family Rs. 2,000. The two families shared food served to 500 people at the "mahasabha."

"For us, the decision of the village elders is ultimate. Had we refused, we would have been boycotted by the villagers and not even allowed to draw water from the well,'' said Kamla. Her father, Asa Ram Mandavi, a farmer, had four daughters, of whom Kesari was the third. He accepted the villagers' decision as per the tradition of Hatia Gonds who believe that a girl going ``wayward'' becomes "village property" and loses all her rights.

"There is nothing uncommon in buying wayward girls,'' says a village elder, Kundan. "Boys often go to buy girls in such auctions."

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