The tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh do not conform to the notion of gender equality in tribal societies. Teresa Rehman reports.

Contrary to popular notions of gender equality in tribal societies, there are innumerable cases of unimaginably inhuman treatment meted out to a woman in the name of tradition and clan honour. A predominantly tribal state Arunachal Pradesh, tucked away in the extreme northeastern corner of India is a case in point.

The present Arunachal Pradesh is a conglomeration of 25 tribes and over 100 sub-tribes. Gender differences in basic access reflect deep-rooted biases in social structures and belief systems. And these disparities are reinforced again and again by the tribal customary laws which are often discriminatory towards women. And most often tribal societies do not follow the statutory laws when it comes to marriage, divorce, inheritance etc.

Some of the age-old customary laws, which are ruthlessly patriarchal, have perpetuated social evils and crimes against women. For instance, in 2006, a minor orphan Anga approached the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) based in Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh and appealed for justice. Her parents had died within a month of each other when she was one year old and she was taken under the care of her cousin brother. When she was 3 years old, she was sold by her cousin to an adult of the same village who was approximately 33 years old at the time of that ‘negotiation’ or so-called marriage.

When she was 6 years old, she was sent to the man’s house. On her attaining puberty at an early age, the middle aged man (now 45 years old) started harassing the little girl to fulfill his carnal desire, claiming that the girl was his traditionally acquired or purchased bride. Helpless after being physically and mentally harassed, Anga ran away in 2003 from the clutches of the man. She tried to survive as a free person for three years whereafter she somehow reached the APSCW with her prayer during March 2006.

The Commission took cognizance of the matter and Anga was provided immediate shelter through the offices of the Deputy Commissioner. The Commission referred the case to the relevant Deputy Commissioner of the area where Anga came from. The case was promptly sent to the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) of the Circle. And the outcome: a unique judgement was passed by the JMFC who restrained the alleged child marriage, under Section 12 of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, and that apart, Anga was freed from the bondage of the alleged child marriage without carrying any liability as to the matter of the bridal price. Today Anga is free and managing her own small enterprise with a small loan arranged out of personal resources of the members of the Commission.

Child marriage, being part of a social evil, is still prevalent in some pockets of the state, with tacit social sanction. In some of the tribes in the state, girl child is treated as a tradable commodity, negotiable for a price determined by parents or guardians of the girl and the male to whom she is bound for matrimony.

In fact, the child brides are often minors within the age group of 7-13 years, while the man to whom they are sold, engaged or wedded are generally men with purchasing power in the age group of 40-70 years. By the time the child bride comes to her senses, she would have been deprived of basic education, of her childhood, often raped and tortured, kept in captivity. Invariably, these victims are young, poor or helpless orphans and the men are from influential backgrounds.

The tribal customary laws contribute to making women socially insignificant. Women are not allowed to inherit immovable parental property and many a times from inheriting even matrimonial property – for example a widow with no male offspring is barred from inheriting any property of a deceased husband which renders her homeless and helpless. In a few cases, a young widow has been dispossessed of her marital property, jointly acquired and owned by her with her deceased husband. Battery, insults, physical and mental harassment, torture and deprivation owing to multiple marriages, rape, gender discrimination are common.

The alarming state of affairs of women is evident in a report on the situational analysis of girls in Arunachal Pradesh by the National Commission for Women and the Arunachal Pradesh Human Development Report 2005. According to the 2001 census, sex ratio in Arunachal Pradesh is 901 females per 1000 males. The child sex ratio has reduced from 982 in 1991 to 964 in 2001 census. The rural child sex ratio has gone down drastically from 986 in 1991 to 957 in 2001 compared to 946 in 1991 to 981 in 2001 in the urban areas.

Although there are no reported cases of sex selective abortions within the state, the members of the Commission has come to know of some cases which took place outside the state. There is also a gender gap of 19.83 percent in education as per the 2001 census. A steep increase in the number of unorganized
sex workers among the indigenous population has also been observed in the last two decades.

The life expectancy for women in Arunachal has also come down to 54.51 percent as compared to the national average of 64.84 percent. Healthwise too, women show a negative trend. 62.5 percent of the married women in the state are anaemic. These concerns are directly proportional to low literacy rates
and low economic independence among women.

The APSCW is working towards speedy and inexpensive justice by adopting many innovative means. They conduct social investigation to get verified information on cases and hold public hearings on such cases which have a wider social issue embroiled into it. Such public hearings are used as a forum for
sensitization on women empowerment. The Commission also embarks on independent fact-finding missions in cases of major criminal offences. In fact, many cases have also been resolved through intensive counselling, especially reconciliations in cases of marital disputes.

The Commission tries as much as possible to involve the police, district administration and nodal departments in ensuring justice. They have also evolved a working relationship with various women organizations in order to raise awareness about women’s rights. There is an urgent need to modify the
discriminatory customary laws without hurting the sentiments of the tribal population.

But there is still a long way to go as statistics reveal that even after 60 years of India’s independence, there is a palpable lack of knowledge and concern about the human rights of women, the Constitutional guarantees and laws of the land that protect the rights of citizens, specially women.
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