Tradition and Superstition

While in the Terai we learn't some more about the traditions and

superstitions that are particular to the plains area in the South of

Nepal.  One tradition that shocked us is the practice of early child

marriage - families will arrange the marraige of their children when

they are only 5 - 8 years old. A ceremony will be held at this time,

with the husband and wife only living together when they reach puberty

or their late teens. Sometimes the girl child (wife) will go live with

the husbands family immediately after the wedding with both children

growing up together.  The women tend to be very sub-servient, and many

miss out on an education altogether.  Education is not viewed as a

priority when the girl child will grow up to marry into and belong to

the husbands family!  Others that do go to school tend to drop out

early due to pressure on them to help with household chores, young

marraiges, and a lack of proper sanitation facilities at the schools.

A lack of education also breeds a healthy environment for superstition

... one belief still prominant in the Terai is that of witch-craft,

also known as Bokshi in Nepali.  Some parallels could be drawn with

medieval England.  One person or a group of people will accuse a woman

of being a witch, and she will be ostracised from the community.  If a

woman is believed to be guilty of Bokshi villagers will put human

excretment in her mouth and to beat her to drive the evil spirits

away. Superstitions like this were actively encouraged and used by the

Maoist rebels during the civil war as it enabled greater control over

the local community.

Fortunately, local NGOs are working to improve this situation in the

Terai through both education and legal aid.  We met with the Jan

Jagaran Youth Club (JJYC) who run many programs in the Bara region,

including programs to encourage the education of girls and paralegal

training.  Paralegal training has been given to a group of village

women to enable them to solve conflicts within the village, avoiding

the cost of lawyer which is unaffordable to all except the most

wealthy of villagers. In fact the system is supported by the local

legal community with many lawyers and barristers providing support and

advice to the paralegals pro bono.  Many people are unaware of their

basic rights, and the countries laws. This training is slowly helping

to improve this situation.  In a recent witchcraft case we were shown,

the victim had been accused of Bokshi by a village rival and

subsequently punished. The victim approached her village paralegal for

help. The paralegal sought advice from local barristers (the woman who

had accused the victim had bribed the local policemen, the victims

only previous avenue of help). With the help of the entire group of

paralegals and support of the local legal community a large village

meeting was called with both women having their say in the open air.

The victim was able to clear her name in front of the entire village

and the accuser was ordered to pay a hefty fine to the victim. This

did not fully please the victim who demanded an eye for an eye but the

paralegals were able to inform her that she would be the one breaking

the law in that case and the matter was resolved.

This shows how deeply rooted cultrual beliefs are affecting the

devolepment of poor, rural areas of Nepal. The path to resolving these

issues will be a long one but with local groups like JJYC and CDRA

doing good grassroots work we are moving in the right direction.