In this Issue:
- Dalit girl raped
- Dalit’s eye damaged mysteriously
- Community pays Rs 2500 for Dalit thrashing
- Discrimination compels a teacher to quit permanent job
- Dalit home demolished
- Misused funds returned
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Dalit girl raped

At around midnight on Friday 2 June 2006, a 12-year-old girl was raped by a neighbor after being enticed with a five rupee note.

Laxmi Caudhary, 45, a resident of Ward 6 of Medhasa village, Sunsari district, threatened to kill Sarita Sardar (name changed to protect victim’s identity) and raped her when there was nobody at her home.

She was given the money and touched her private parts when she went to Chaudhary’s house to study math with his daughter. Chaudhary told Sardar that he would come to her home in the evening.

“At 11 pm he came to my home and raped me,” the innocent Sardar said.

The incident became public when neighbors noticed her constant bleeding. A few hours later, the villagers gathered and local women caught the culprit, a father of two, and handed him over to the police. He was trying to flee from the scene.

According to Januka Pokhrel, a member of the local Women Cooperation Network, the victim’s elder brother is a mute, her mother is mentally ill, and her father was not at home.

Police inspector Bimal Wasti said the culprit is being detained at Sunsari District Police Office pending further action against him. Locals are demanding stern punishment for the perpetrator.

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Dalit’s eye damaged mysteriously

The eye of a Dalit youth was mysteriously damaged while he was in the police custody—police claim to have no idea about the incident.

Kamal Baral (Sunar), 23, was taken to District Police Office (DPO) Dhangadhi on 21 May 2006 by his family for security reasons.

Being a drug addict, Kamal was taken to the police office for his own safety because he was having a violent outburst. Kamal claimed that he had been fighting with other detainees at around 9 pm. Police said he was shifted to another room after the altercation.

According to his father Man Bahadur Baral, Kamal told him that he was beaten up by the police before going unconscious. “He had no idea how he lost his eyesight,” Man Bahadur told human rights activists and the Superintendent of Police of the DPO.

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Community pays Rs 2500 for Dalit thrashing

While the Nepali people were fighting for inclusive democracy (loktantra) in the streets, the Dalits of Bhangaha Tol in Babaniya village were being beaten by so-called upper caste people for refusing to dump carcasses.

On 13 April 2006, five people, including Bechan Yadav, beat nine Chamar people for failing to dump the carcass of a buffalo. The local Yadav community publicly barred a number of Dalits, including Shivaji Mahara, from entering public places such as wells, shops, pharmacies, and rice and wheat mills.

It took some 20 days for this information to come to the attention of the media. The news was published in a few local newspapers, first being published from Janakpur on 2 May 2006. The news only reached the papers because the Maoist-affiliated Dalit Liberation Front expressed concern over the issue.

The vice-president in charge of the eastern command for the Bauram Gazmer Front issued a press statement demanding the formation of an independent committee to investigate the incident and recommend strong actions against the offenders. Dalits were compelled to follow the restrictions issued by the Yadav community and were kept to a limited periphery for almost three weeks.

With the news coverage in the media, the Human Rights Monitoring Committee of Dhanusha demanded that the government take action against the guilty parties. In a statement convener Thir Bahadur Karki demanded justice for the victims and appropriate compensation as well.

The victims went to Mahendra Nagar Base Camp to file a complaint, but no action was taken.

During a public hearing organized at Mahendra Nagar Campus on 4 May 2006, the participants decided that the Yadav community should pay Rs 2,500 to the victims. The decision was made in the presence of Ram Autar Paswan, a member of the National Dalit Commission, and representatives of other local Dalit organizations. During the hearing the Yadav community also agreed not to put pressure on Chamars to dump carcasses, discriminate on the basis caste, or ban Dalits from public places.

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Discrimination compels a teacher to quit permanent job

Ruk Bahadur Pariyar of Ganeshsthan in Bharatpur Municipality-11, Chitwan district, was driven to quit his permanent job because he could not tolerate extreme and continuous social disrespect.

Having entered the teaching profession some 27 years ago, he quit after one year of his appointment because society could not tolerate his presence in the National Primary School of Mayatar in Kaule VDC.

Later he joined a secondary school in Dibyanagar where he stayed less than a year because the then chairman of the management committee Gou Prasad Gurung would not agree to make a Dalit a permanent teacher.

Finally, he joined a school at Motipur Damauli in Bardiya district, where he became a permanent teacher after passing the Education Service Commission examinations and completing two years of service.

When the principal of the school resigned, Pariyar stepped in. With his appointment as school principal, criticism began that a Damai—or lower caste man—should not be made the principal of the school.

He was insulted by local people wherever he went. Members of the community surrounded the school in protest, demanded a financial report, threatened to take his life, and demanded that the District Education Office throw him out because he was born in a lower caste.

It was impossible for Pariyar to tolerate the abuse directed against him. Therefore he remained at home on leave without pay of six months. Later he left for India to seek a job.

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Dalit home demolished

A non-Dalit neighbor demolished the house of Hira Lal Sunar, a Dalit residing at the Sukumbasi Tol—an area occupied by landless people—situated at Aaptari of Bharatpur Municipality-1 in Chitwan district.

Jeet Bahadur Thing destroyed Sunar’s home following a conflict over the boundaries of their land.

Thing’s family members demolished the hut after throwing out all Sunar’s belongings.

Sunar and his family had been living there for three years.

Both parties later agreed to rebuild the house together and clarify Sunar’s land rights at the Police check post.

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Misused funds returned

In response to broad public pressure, the Bhagawati Secondary School of Inaruwa in Sunsari district has returned misused funds meant for Dalit scholarships.

The school has returned Rs 250 to each Dalit student entitled to the scholarship for the current academic year. Moreover, a fee collected under the heading “miscellaneous” was also returned. The amount ranges from Rs 40 to 45 for each student.

The scholarship was returned during a formal program at the school. Principal Purushottam Ghimire expressed a commitment not to delay the distribution of funds released for the students. He also said the school will not charge a fee on any title for Dalit students.

He clarified that the scholarship had not been distributed because he had not received any clear direction from the District Education Office.

The school misused a scholarship amounting to over Rs. 9,000 for 15 students in grade seven and 12 in grade eight. The scholarship was returned in the presence of journalists and representatives from many organizations.

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