Indira Kushwaha has fled her village after she was threatened (Pics: Prakash Hatvalne)
Shyama Tomar is an elected woman leader of a village council in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh
But her status in India's male-dominated heartland did not stop a male colleague from allegedly slapping and tearing off her clothes in full view of people in a busy public square in June.
Shyama, 45, says her only "crime" was to discontinue the free supply of water carried by tanker trucks in her water-scarce village to a hotel owned by her colleague, a 60-year-old vice president of the same village council.
After taking over the village council, the feisty teacher-turned village council leader found that proceeds from the sale of water supplied by the council to villagers by tanker trucks over five years had been an abysmal 506 rupees ($11).
During her first year in the job proceeds from selling water climbed over 20 times, a clear indication that money from earlier sales was being siphoned off.
"It was not my personal insult. It was insulting the position I occupy," says Shyama.
She is the not the only woman village council leader in Madhya Pradesh who is facing the ire of her male colleagues for asking too many questions.
Indira Kushwaha, the head of Mahoikala village in Chhattarpur district, was allegedly dragged out of her house, nearly stripped naked and paraded around the village by a group of men in June. Her son was also beaten up.
1 comment:
Women emancipation is required in Indian rurals. This article threw a light that how difficult for a women in india to participate in public life especially in a male dominated society. Shayma's fight against prejudice and malpractices in village council is overwhelming. Every VC in India require a woman leader like Shayama for fighting against injustice to strenghen the root level of Indian democracy.
Post a Comment