Shocking—Naga women beaten and banished for 30 yrs for not voting particular candidate

March 7, 2018 967 Views No Comment

In a shocking incident, four people- three women and one man were reportedly excommunicated from their village in Nagaland for 30 years after villagers suspected they had voted for another candidate instead of voting for the candidate chosen by the village council.

One of the women, a 58 year old was allegedly brutally beaten on the night of March 5 at Changki village under 29 Jangpetkong A/C in Mokokchung district and was excommunicated with two more women and a man, for 30 years.

The woman, who was beaten up, has reportedly sustained serious injuries and was rushed to Dimapur for treatment. The victim, an unmarried woman, works as a nurse at the Community Health Centre in Changki. She was allegedly forced to sign a piece of paper admitting her ‘guilt’ by the Changki Village Council before she was beaten up.

A local, on condition of anonymity said about 40-50 votes were in favour of the other candidate, the one not chosen by the Changki Village Council but he wondered why only these four people were targeted.

The Changki Village Council (CVC)’s decision to excommunicate was announced by the village ‘crier’ and reports say all four excommunicated people have been given time until Thursday, March 8 to leave the village. Reportedly, the village council members had kept a strict vigil over all three polling stations in Changki village during the Assembly elections held on February 27.

A Suo Moto case under sections 320, 321, 322, 323 and 354 IPC has reportedly been filed by the Mangkolemba police station against the accused responsible for the victim’s injuries and the case has been entrusted to the Mokokchung police Women Cell for further investigation.

The DC has issued a show cause notice to the Village Council.

This isn’t the first such incident to be reported in recent times. Just a fortnight back, a few women were allegedly beaten in Merangkong Village under 21 Tuli A/C in Mokokchung district for supporting a candidate not chosen by their Village Council. The accused who allegedly thrashed them is absconding.

Nagaland’s gender issues came to the fore last year when Zeliang was forced to step down following widespread violence after the NPP government tried to conduct municipal elections which had not been held for 13 years and advocated a 33% reservation for women.

Five women who had contested in the Elections lost to their male counterparts, proving once again that Nagaland is still not ready to let its women enter the Assembly.

Gender statistics say 76% of women in Nagaland are literate as compared to the national average of 65%. Their representation in government and private jobs is also significant at 23.5% and 49%, respectively. Tribal laws in the state dictate that women cannot inherit property. And they have little say in governance and society in general.

Source: Time8