Child Protection Committee addresses domestic violence issues at Phunchawng, Mizoram

About 15 km away from Aizawl, the state capital of Mizoram, is situated the area of Phunchawng, which is inhabited largely by migrants from neighbouring countries like Myanmar and other Indian states. The area is notorious for brewing and selling of local liquor (alcohol sale and consumption is legally banned in Mizoram), crime and high incidents of domestic abuse and child rights violation. In order to address the prevalent abuse against women and children, the Centre for Peace and Development (CPD), an NGO based at Aizawl, is implementing the project PRIDE in the area with support from the Foundation for Social Transformation (FST). The project aims to address these issues through the involvement of the community members, by forming Child Protection Committees comprised of local community members and youths.

Mawii's room at Phunchanwg (bottom corner of the house)

In a small rented room at Seven Mile in Phunchawng lives a woman by the name of Mawii. She lives alone with bare minimum belongings. Mawii’s husband used to physically abuse her and his beatings increased gradually over a period of time. He used to leave her, go away for days a stretch and finally threatened to throw her out of the house. Fed up of the regular abuse, Mawii approached the Village Council (VC) for help and expressed the desire to move away and live separately, and claim some basic belongings as the husband refused to give her anything. The VC advised her to approach the CPC and she did so, though she did not know much about them at that time. The CPC organized a small meeting with Mawii where some VC members were also present, and they discussed the possibility of Mawii living by herself and working on other people’s land to earn her income.

The CPC members made a visit to Mawii’s residence and met her husband, who got a little apprehensive. Over a period of time, they made the husband aware of provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and educated him about the possible consequences of his abuse. The husband got scared and agreed to divide the belongings between them. The CPC made him sign a bond stating that both the parties had agreed to distribute their belongings and he will not bother her until there is mutual agreement to unite.

Says Ms. Rosangi, Chairperson of the Phunchawng CPC – “He had threatened to take away her poultry, in addition to not giving her any belonging, and refused to pay her taxi fare to Aizawl where her relatives live. But after we told him about the law, he left her poultry alone and also paid her fare!” Adds Mawii – “He also willingly gave me the television to keep, when the belongings were distributed.”

Ms. Rosangi - tea stall owner at the local bazaar and Chairperson of the CPC of Phunchawng

Mawii has some relatives at Aizawl which is about 15 km away from Phunchawng, but she was reluctant to stay with them for too long. She stayed in Ms. Rosangi’s house for some time till she moved to the rented room where she now stays. She now works as a daily labourer in agricultural fields and sells vegetables etc. to earn a living. The husband stays in the 10 mile area and has not disturbed her since. Reconciliation if any, will only happen if Mawii is also agreeable to it. Mawii is grateful to the CPC for having allowed her to free herself from her husband’s abuses and live her life independently on her own terms, without fear.

The CPCs meanwhile continue to address matters of child rights abuse and domestic violence and try to resolve some conflicts initially at the community level itself. If not resolved, they help the victims seek legal recourse through state mechanisms at Aizawl, with help from CPD. The role of the CPCs has been recognized and acknowledged by the Village Councils and the latter has extended cooperation to them in addressing issues of violence and abuse.

Krishna Manik Molsom

Sampari Hukumu Bodol is a partner organization of FST, and with FST’s support, is implementing a project for Restoration and Preservation of Vanishing Musical Motifs of Indigenous Tripura. The Molsom is one of the tribes selected as a part of this project. Says Fr. Joseph P. of Sampari – “Compared to the other tribes of Tripura, I have observed that the Molsom tribe prefers living in the interior areas, away from roads and highways. It was the first time through our project that any organization has worked with the Molsoms here…”

Traditional songs and musical instruments are slowly disappearing and many people have given up making these instruments. There remain only a few people who still possess this knowledge. Thus lamented Motra Molsom, an elderly Molsom from the Tuichlong village – “Before 1974, there still were some opportunities to showcase our culture. I myself led a cultural troupe to Delhi. But thereafter, the opportunities disappeared. After 1974,with the influx of refugee population, there began scarcity of food. In the struggle for food, culture was forgotten and it took a backseat. Our culture is now lost… Even the clothes that the women are wearing today are not made by us, but by ‘Bengalis’. We feel shy to go to cultural programmes as we do not have any dress of our own anymore. We need to preserve our culture and our customs regarding marriage, food, and indigenous health pratices etc., to show that we also belong to this State.”

Fr. Joseph writes about Krishna Manik Molsom from the same village and his evolution from a shy man lacking in confidence to a selected Radio artist -

“32 year old Krishna Manik hails from Tuichlong near Tuidu in Ampi area of Tripura. The village is very interior and he used to live with his wife and little son in his in-laws’ house. His only source of income was cutting bamboos from the jungle and selling them to people from Tuidu market who would buy them for generally a meagre price. With bamboo becoming scarce, life was getting difficult for Krishna and family. That was when in connection with our Motivation program for the Molsoms that we reached his village and discovered that Krishna was very talented in playing almost all the traditional musical instruments – chongpreng, sarinda, sumui and kham. We also found out that Krishna could make the instruments by carving wood. Krishna was selected to be on the training and then he was part of the musician team for the recording of the Molsom songs. We also presented Krishna to the Station Director of All India Radio. He took an audition and finding his talent, selected him as one of the radio artistes of Agartala. Krishna will get chance to play at regular intervals at the Agartala Radio station and get a modest fee for it too. Krishna has been inducted as a staff of Sampari Hukumu Bodol and resides now at Don Bosco Peace Centre where currently the office of Sampari Hukumu Bodol is located.”

We at FST are happy to be a part of such efforts and hope that similar success stories continue to emerge through the work of our partners!