CSOs condemn forced elopement of woman
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, December 19 2021:
Civil society organisations including Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL), Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM), GirlUp Manipur, Mingsel Foundation, Human Rights Alert (HRA), Women in Governance Network (WinG) and North-East Women's Network have strongly condemned the kidnapping, confinement, threat to rape, threat to murder, threat to 'Keina Katpa' (forced marriage) and forced elopement of one Anamika Ahongshangbam, a PhD scholar of JNU, against her will by one Rajkumar Master Meitei, son of RK Sanajaoba of Mayang Imphal Konchak Mayai Leikai.
A joint release issued by CSO functionaries Angom Sushma, Renu Takhellambam, Athokpam Disti, Angobi Chanu, Babloo Loitongbam, Narengbam Nonibala and Beerjuresha Samom, said Anamika was called out by Master on December 12 on the pretext of having lunch at Lilong.
She accepted the invitation as they were well acquainted.
Instead, he took her to his aunt's house at Mayang Imphal, near his house.
Right after lunch, Master's family coaxed her to marry Master which she out rightly rejected.
But the family insisted and persuaded her to accept the proposal.
As the matter escalated, she tried to leave the house but they instead snatched her phone and locked her in the house, it claimed.
The release continued that on the instigation of other members of the family and Master, she was forcefully silenced, assaulted and even subjected to threats of murder and rape.
Anamika protested the wrongful confinement, which caught the attention of the neighbourhood.
But to her utter surprise none of them came to her rescue and trivialised the matter as a family scuffle.
Even as she vehemently protested, the family and local folks threatened her that they will perform the 'Keina Katpa' ritual and publicly humiliate her.
Fortunately, she survived the ordeal and managed to reach home the next day and immediately filed a police complaint at Singjamei Police station and the investigation is going on.
The CSO emphasised that as civil society organisations concerned with gender justice, they are shocked to notice the insensitivity of the family members and local community to the plight of Anamika when she protested the forced kidnaping.
They strongly denounced the normalisation of marriage through abduction and systemic violence against women.
This is a total denial of an individual's consent in determining her most important decision in life and a serious affront to the human right to the women.
Archaic patriarchal traditions of expecting women to submit to pressure of so called "social norms" should be consigned to the flames of history and people should rebuild an egalitarian society where men and women enjoys equality with the same rights and dignity, it stressed.