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Nepal Social Life |
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Abortion
Scandal in Nepal: The women's jail in Kathmandu is a grim place
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The
prisoner I had come to see, 16 year-old Min Min Lama, was immediately identifiable
among the inmates who were chatting and hanging out the washing in the
prison courtyard. She is after all, at 16, Nepal's youngest woman
prisoner. She looks much younger and is extremely pretty. Taking
me by the hand, Min Min Lama took me to a quiet corner of the prison
courtyard to tell her story:
| Raped |
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explained that she was 14 when she was raped by a male relation, the brother
of her step sister-in-law. "He opened the door and shoved a towel
in my mouth and raped me." "Later, I told my step sister-in-law what
had happened and she said she couldn't believe that her brother would do
such a thing." She said that when it was discovered that she was
pregnant, her step sister-in-law wanted to protect her brother and, without
Min Min Lama knowing, she gave her a drug which induced an abortion. |
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When
the aborted foetus was found in a public toilet, the sister-in-law called
the police. Abortion is illegal in Nepal and the teenager was sentenced
to 12 years in jail.
This
tiny and fragile girl has become a symbol for those campaigning in Nepal
to change the abortion laws. Nearly 100 women, or a fifth of the
female prisoners in Nepal are serving time on abortion-related charges
and many of them, like Min Min Lama, have been raped by a male relation.
What makes Min Min Lama's case extra poignant is that she claims she wasn't
responsible for the abortion and she asked me to go and find the woman
who was, the sister in law.
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Finding
the family
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It
was a seven-hour journey from Kathmandu, five of them on foot, to reach
Min Min Lama's home and on the way I learned more about her family and
the plight of women in Nepal.
There
was the local hospital which I stumbled on en route, nearly falling over
a woman who was lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the entrance hall
awaiting medical attention. She too had been the victim of an amateur
abortionist. A doctor told me that he deals with such cases all the
time - women with punctured uteruses and even intestines after traditional
birth attendants use whatever sharp object comes to hand, bamboo sticks
and even shards of glass, to get rid of the foetus which would otherwise
cause the family shame. I resumed my trek to Min Min Lama's home.
None
of Min Min Lama's full brothers and sisters were there and I learned that
after Min Min Lama's mother had died, her father had remarried and the
new wife had driven Min Min Lama and her two brothers from the family home.
Furthermore, the new family were afraid that under Nepali property laws,
Min Min Lama might inherit some of her mother's estate and so it might
be convenient for Min Min Lama to be behind bars. Min Min Lama's
father and stepmother assured me that they loved Min Min Lama but could
do nothing to help her as they had no money.
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Sent
away
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As
for my search for the step sister-in-law, they said she wasn't there and
sent me away. But I returned to the house at midnight and, as I suspected,
the sister-in-law was there. The family was humiliated and mortified.
The entire village was awaken by now and the neighbours who have gathered
around shouted at the woman that she had been found out and that she must
now tell the truth. The step sister-in-law admitted to giving Min
Min Lama the poison which had caused the abortion and to lying to the police
about Min Min Lama's age so that, although she was still a minor, she would
be imprisoned. "OK, I am guilty. I feel guilty, but what good will
that do now?", she said .
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Good
news
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Min
Min Lama's lawyers had been campaigning for her case to be reviewed.
Two weeks later, Min Min Lama was released. The plight of the teenager
has focused attention on the issue, and might prove the catalyst for change.
There are, however, 99 women facing similar charges who still languish
in prison in Nepal today.
Report:
by a british journalist, 1999.
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