With hands that have seen many an abuse from her former employers, Meena wants to start shaping a new life for herself.
Morung Express News
Dimapur| August 28
Rolling up her pants, Meena reveals purple coloured blotches on her thighs caused by beating from an iron rod. The skin on her right arm bears cut scars from a machete (Dao) and her hands are severely swollen. Unable to describe the torture meted out to her by her former employer, the young girl whispers “they tied my hands behind my back and three Naga boys beat me with an iron rod.” A stark reality of what is happening behind high walls of posh houses in Nagaland, Meena, is just one among the hundreds of domestic workers who get beaten up everyday by their employers.
Cut off from her family for over 10 years, Meena was brought from Assam to Dimapur to live with a local family. Unknown to her then that she was sold off for a very small amount, Meena slowly began to realize she was never going back home. Subject to the most gruesome torture for many years, the now 20 something Meena’s nightmare finally came to an end when she escaped from her employer’s home on a hot lazy afternoon. She was rescued by a non-governmental organization in Dimapur recently after loitering aimlessly for several days.
Recounting the days in her former employer’s house, Meena says, it was hell. She was beaten almost regularly for small mistakes she committed. “All the daughters and the mother used to hit me any given time,” Meena says. Using sticks and any hard object, she lived under constant fear of getting thrashed. Her employers also struck her several times with the Naga dao causing permanent marks to remain. She shows tiny cut marks on her scalp and one right below her left ear. Meena’s decision to run away came the day her employer asked three boys (her tenants apparently) to beat her up. She was accused of stealing money.
Now lodged safely with other underprivileged women in a hostel run by the NGO, Meena still shivers from the thought of her employer’s tracking her down. “They are rich people. They might catch me again and then I don’t know what will happen to me then,” Meena says. Meena says she has endured enough pain and wants to start a new life.
Enraged by the abuse of the domestic worker, the NGO says it will confront the family in the coming days. “We want to let her (Meena) settle down first,” an NGO worker says. The organization has also taken serious note of the inhuman act committed by the girl’s former employers and may investigate further. The NGO also aims to trace Meena’s father and convey the message about his daughter to him.
(The girl’s name has been changed to protect her identity)
