Tribal Girls In Gujarat Are Auctioned Off By The Village Leaders If They Fall In Love. Women Are Treated Like Cattle In This Country
I have always been of the opinion that in life, everything comes at a cost. Literally, figuratively or even metaphorically. You want that cute sweater? It’ll cost you a quarter of your salary. You want that cute apartment? It’ll cost you all of your savings. You want that cute boy? It’ll cost you a little of your peace of mind. However, if you’re from a tribe in Gujarat, chances are that the cost you’d have to pay for love would be far more consequential and brutal than just that. Because, tribal girls in Gujarat pay for falling in love, by getting auctioned.
As alarming as it is unbelievable, tribal girls in Gujarat pay the price for falling in love by being put up for auctions as a punishment for their crimes. Stripped away from the right to even experience something as natural as falling in love, the women from the Devgadh Baria tribe are controlled to the point of not even being allowed to follow their hearts, lest they end up being the ‘item’ being bid on in an auction.
In May 2019, an auction just like this was arranged illegally but stopped by the police, where it was found how a girl who had eloped with her boyfriend, was caught, locked away and then put up for auction to the highest bidder. And mind you, this was the collective work of the elders of the community, who believed that the punishment for insubordination should be that she be sold off like cattle. We didn’t think tribal girls in Gujarat had it easy, but then we didn’t know it was so bad.
Gujarat tribal girls in love risk getting ‘auctioned’ Increasing reports of auction of women. #DevgadhBaria @vijayrupanibjp
https://t.co/9Rry7TVFQl— Ketan (@ketan72) October 6, 2020
Also Read : Rape. Domestic Abuse. Violence. The Crimes Against Women In Our Country Are Increasing At An Alarming Rate. Even The UN Is Worried
Guliben Nayak of Pachayasar village, Devgadh Baria shared, “The girl, a minor, was forcibly brought back and was consumed with fear, her hands and feet tied with rope, when we rescued her.” He further went on to reveal how a lot of the times, such grim incidents manage to go unnoticed by the authorities because the village leaders themselves are involved in it. Tribal girls in Gujarat struggle to face up to the laws laid down by village elders.
The operation of the bust was led by women from Devgadh Mahila Sangathan and Area Networking and Development Initiatives (ANANDI). Kailash Baria, project coordinator of ANANDI in Ruparel village in Ghogamba taluka said, “We have foiled at least two such attempts where the villagers and family members attempted to auction girls during the Covid lockdown-1 period. In one case the girl had attained the marriageable age of 18 and the villagers had pressurized that family that they will be thrown out of the community if their daughter pursued her plans of entering wedlock with her loved one.”
Neeta Hardika, a founding member and director of ANANDI also spoke on the matter and shared how, “There are increasing reports of haraji (auction) of women and girls for marriage. These auctions are done under the cover of night; victims often remain silent as their families are threatened with community backlash.” And it is such regressive and orthodox mindsets about that have allowed them to violate a woman’s personal choice and treat her like a commodity that can be traded for cash. And tribal girls in Gujarat are bearing the brunt of this nonsense.
