Giving voice to NE - Alana Golmei
Source: The Sangai Express / Courtesy- Deccan Herald

New Delhi, March 08 2016: It was the gangrape of a Delhi University student from the North East in 2005 which left an impact on Alana Golmei.

She had just shifted to Delhi from Manipur and had encountered discriminatory treatment towards the people of the North East.

"I spoke to a lot of people from the community living in different pockets of Delhi and realised that the problem is rife.

People shared a range of experiences from getting molested in malls to being thrown out of house by the owner due to their North Eastern identity," Golmei says.

This is when she thought the community cannot wait for someone to help and it has to come from "within".

After consulting her friends, Golmei � along with four others � found the North East Support Centre and Helpline (NESCH) in 2007.She is being honoured with the 'DCW Achievement Award' for her work on International Women's Day on Tuesday by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) .

The Commission will honour 28 people, including men, who have worked for women empowerment.

The present strength of Golmei's team is 15 and she has made her personal number available to receive calls at any hour of the day.

The helpline receives 20-30 calls per month on an average.

The number has reduced since the Delhi Police started a helpline, 1093, for people from the North East.

The helpline was launched after the murder of Nido Tania in 2014 .

When people call her with complaints now, Golmei advises them to first call on 1093 and call her back if their FIR is not registered.

"Now I can at least sleep with my phone on silent mode," she says in a lighter vein, referring to the reduction in number of calls.

The helpline receives more calls from men than from women.

"There are more physical assault complaints from men.

They get beaten up on roads or thrown outside by their landlords," she adds.

Apart from that, Golmei's hands are full when it comes to follow up of cases, approaching Courts for victims' compensation or holding workshops.

She also holds workshops with the Delhi Police.

When she founded the organisation, besides cases of rape and molestation, North Easterners singled out incidents such as non-payment of salaries and random beating on roads due to their identity.

Golmei acknowledges that the police and the public have become a little more sensitive towards the community since some years and the issue has reached the ears of the Government.

But the change is only minor, she says.

"We received a call from a woman recently who said her employer is following her and keeps asking that she might not have a problem going out with him since she is from the North East," she said, referring to the people's perception about the community.

According to her, the judicial system is so time-consuming and inefficient that around 80 per cent people withdraw their cases and leave the capital.

Sometimes it is due to the lack of resources and sometimes they are scared and don't have faith in the system.

Golmei had fought for getting justice for a young woman from the North East who was molested by her employer in 2010 .

Her case came up for hearing only last year.

"The woman was married by then and had left the State.

She does not want to come back as she has very little faith in the system," she says.

Comment