Stigmatisation And Exclusion Of Tribal ‘Kumari Matas’ In Yavatmal

The fear of stigma amongst victims and their families and defamation of the community/village is overarching. Moralising overtones are also reflected in the language of the state, particularly the bureaucracy, while dealing with these cases. Beyond stigma, these sexually exploited women are further subjected to ostracisation and exclusion.

Nature and Extent of the Phenomenon

The issue of Kumari Matas amongst the scheduled tribes of Yavatmal first surfaced in public fora when local newspapers reported the incidence in significant numbers in the tribal belt of Jhari Jamni block (as told to the author by a local official).
The Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti in 2009 reported over 300 cases of Kumari Matas in Yavatmal, of which 52 cases were from Jhari Jamni block alone. The issue was later taken up in public hearings conducted by the state human rights commission in 2009 (Maitra 2009).
However, the Government of Maharashtra initiated action only in December 2013 following the visit of Nirmala Sawant, a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to Jhari Jamni.
Sawant requested the state government to conduct an enquiry into four blocks of Yavatmal, namely Jhari Jamni, Wani, Maregaon and Pandharkawada, to facilitate the identification and authentication of casestowards rehabilitation.

Tribal Rights And Discrimination In India

Further, media reports and mobilisation at the local level by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) pressurised the state government to take immediate action in this regard. At the forefront of initiating action were the state agencies of the additional tribal development commissionerate at Amravati, Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) office at Pandharkawada, district collector of Yavatmal, and the police, women and child development, and health departments at Yavatmal.
The police started an enquiry based on a news report in the Marathi daily Loksatta in March 2014 (Kamble 2014).1 The additional commissioner of police, Maharashtra ordered the superintendent of police, Yavatmal to investigate and identify causes and measures to be taken against such crimes and submit a report to the chief minister.
Soon after, the women and child development officer at Yavatmal reported that there were 87 cases of Kumari Matas—39 in Jhari Jamni, 33 in Pandharkawada, nine in Maregaon and six in Wani blocks.2 The report stated that 39 out of the 87 were married.
Later in April 2015, the Women and Child Development Department, Yavatmal found 119 cases of Kumari Matas in the district. These were primarily from Jhari Jamni (47) and Pandharkawada (41) while a few cases were from other blocks. As per the latest list providing figures until December 2015, the reported figure of Kumari Matas is 157 in Yavatmal
The Women and Child Development Officer (WCDO), Yavatmal identifies two tribes, Kolams and Gonds, among whom the incidence of Kumari Matas is most prominent. Of the total 157 cases, 77 are amongst Kolam, 46 among Gonds, seven among Bhois, six among Pardhans, three each among Gowaris, Banjaras, Andhs, and Mahar/Matangs, two each among Madgis and Kunbis and one each being Muslim, Mali, Baudhha, Dhangar, and Dhobi communities. For a classification of Kumari Matas as per age group and educational status

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The WCDO Yavatmal further reports that of the total 157 women, 151 (96%) were landless. Of the 157 cases, 82 were below the poverty line, 68 did not have ration cards, five were above the poverty line, and two had Antyodaya cards (WCDO 2015: 6–7). Thus, poverty was common amongst more than 95% of the cases.
There is a huge gap between the number of cases claimed by newspaper reports, NGOs, the women’s commission, and actual authenticated cases by the women and child welfare development department at Yavatmal.
The gap in the figures can be attributed to low reporting rates and attempts to suppress cases by tribal leaders, headmen, panchayat members, and non-tribal village leaders. It is clear from the report of a police sub-inspector, Yavatmal that the problem of Kumari Matas dates back to the 1990s for some of them had children, from such liaisons, as old as 20 years .
The report states that most Kumari Matas had subsequently got married and their children (from the pre-marital relation) were staying with the former’s natal parents. Therefore, out of the total cases reported in the abovementioned surveys only one first information report (FIR) had been filed with the police; most Kumari Matas, in their statements to the police, said that they do not wish to complain against anybody.
Contrary to government surveys, the National Commission for Women and the local NGOs in 2010 claimed that there are more than 300 cases of Kumari Matas. Anita Jambhulkar, founder president of Ramai Bahuudeshiya Mahila Kalyan Sanstha, an NGO active in Yavatmal, claims to have a village-wise list of Kumari Matas prepared over the last decade.
She has submitted the complete list along with a related project proposal to the Pandharkawada ITDP office. Thus, there is a wide gap in the figures floated by local NGOs and newspaper reports on the one hand and official data authenticated by the women and child development department, Yavatmal.

Suppression of Crime and Moral Overtones

Far from acknowledging the phenomenon of Kumari Matas as a criminal one, tribal women have been further victimised, labelled immoral, and stigmatised. The fact that there has been a near 20-year lag in the surfacing of the issue testifies to the suppression and neglect of the exploitation of tribal women.
Ironically, the suppression of this issue has been at the hands of the tribal community leaders.
In 2014, a police sub-inspector, Pandharkawada police station, submitted a report to the superintendent of police, Yavatmal noting that only one FIR has been lodged on the issue in Mangurda village. The investigation brought out the fact that this issue dates back to the 1990s.
It echoes the WCDO’s findings that two specific tribes—Kolams and Gonds—were primarily affected by this phenomenon and also that the communities chose to resolve them as per their traditions and customs in their specific community panchayats. Therefore, cases could not be filed against the perpetrators of the crime.

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The fear of defamation has been a significant hurdle in deterring tribal women from reporting to the police and seeking justice. The police responded with the following village-level strategy:
Villagers should report the incidence of Kumari Matas,
police patils (village police headmen) should conduct village meetings and encourage the reporting of Kumari Matas,
Kumari Matas should be personally met, counselled and guided about legal remedies and available government aid,
each police station jurisdiction should form a committee under the chairmanship of the block executive magistrate, along with the police patil and president of conflict resolution committee in each village as members, to report and enquire into complaints of Kumari Matas.
Even so, only two FIRs were filed. Table 4 indicates that majority of the perpetrators are from the same village as that of the victims. This reduces the possibility of cases being reported. The perpetrators being the rural rich and elite of the village form a nexus along with the police patils and tribal leaders to suppress the reporting of such crimes.
Further, as per one newspaper report, visiting contractors and middlemen from Andhra Pradesh too were identified as perpetrators from outside the state in this phenomenon. Personal interviews with the staff of the Pandharkawada ITDP in December 2015 revealed that it was difficult to get into villages, where the cases existed.
They related that government officials as well as media persons were driven away by the villagers stating fears of defamation of the whole village. The villagers claimed that no girls from their village would get married in the future as the phenomenon of “Kumari Mata” was a disgrace and would bring misery to the village.
As a result, cases of sexual exploitation have got suppressed.
Moreover, in such circumstances the morality of tribal women is often questioned. The WCDO, Yavatmal holds that the issue of Kumari Matas has been blown out of proportion by the media and that “live-in” relationships were common amongst tribals.
Further, the officer stated that the phenomenon was a tribal “community problem” and hence, they should be left to solve it by themselves—as most of the perpetrators belong to the same village as the victim.

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Another officer from the district Women and Child Development Department stated that “tribal girls/women get into (sexual) relations with consent and later, when they get pregnant, come to register complaints in the hope of some benefits from the government” (personal interview at Yavatmal, 5 December 2015).
The officer went on to claim that if (welfare) schemes were introduced (for Kumari Matas) then the number of such cases would only rise—to claim benefits under the schemes.
Thus, bureaucratic attitude tilts towards sitting in moral judgment as opposed to realism or pragmatism. The “let alone” approach, in favour of community trial as opposed to judicial processes, by the state has led to further suppression and neglect of the cases.

Revisiting Tribal Culture

The above section reveals the prejudices among state agencies and the bureaucracy against tribal culture. This calls for a closer scrutiny of tribal culture, especially with reference to marriage and social sanctions. It is important to understand what types of “live-in” relations are considered legitimate in tribal society.
And conversely, what kind of taboos and sanctions exist? What changes has the impact of assimilation with caste society brought about in tribal culture, especially with regards marriage and separation? What are the factors responsible for the deterioration of the status of tribal women?
As per the 2011 Census data, the population of Scheduled Tribes in Yavatmal district stands at 5,14,057 or 18.54% of the district population. The same proportion increases in Jhari Jamni and Pandharkawada sub-districts (where majority of cases are reported) to 38.6% and 17.10% respectively.
The major tribes in Yavatmal district are Gonds, Kolams, Andhs, Pardhans, Pardhis, Bhils, and Koli Mahadeos amongst others (Tribal Research and Training Institute 2001), where the Kolams have been identified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Maharashtra for bearing primitive characteristics.
Amongst the Gonds of Yavatmal, “live-in” relations were customary practice and the offspring of such relations were considered legitimate. The Gond tribe practised the traditional Gotul system, wherein unmarried girls and boys lived and comingled in dormitories (Karve 1968: 23). Gotul was a socialising institution amongst the Gonds for its young members.

Cultural Practices Of Tribal Groups In India

Gondi women in the dormitories were free to choose their partner in Gotul by entering into the bachelor’s dormitory and cohabiting with them (Karve 1968). Iravati Karve (1968) notes that this custom was known to the (non-tribal) Marathi-speaking people as “gharghusi.” Gotul was subject to rules and taboos.
First, it was a system made available strictly for members of the Gond tribe alone. Second, widows and widowers were debarred from participating in Gotul, that is, from either taking a partner in the dormitory or being taken as a partner by a member of the dormitory.
Tribal culture has undergone changes historically due to its proximity to caste society and settled agriculturists (Sarma 1993). Development initiatives and linkages between tribal and non-tribal communities (through transport and communication), too, have facilitated major changes in tribal society.
In Yavatmal, the tribals have imbibed non-tribal cultural practices due to cohabitation with non-tribal communities, especially in Jhari Jamni and other Yavatmal blocks. The Gazetteer of Yeotmal District (1974) explained the changes in tribal culture, thus,
The Andhas—an aboriginal tribe—have adopted all the practices of Kunbis and can be hardly distinguished in dress and personal appearance from them. They also cultivate in the same manner like Kunbis. They employ Brahmins as their priests and profess as Vaishnavas by religion.
Like Andhas, Gonds and Pardhans have also adopted Hindu dress and customs to a larger extent … The tribes speak Gondi language among them but can talk Marathi with outsiders and they dress like the Kunbis. They are tenants and labourers and few are patels [headman] of villages.
The Kolams in some respect retain their primitive customs but in dress they can hardly be distinguished from [the] Kunbis … They have a curious survival of marriage by capture. But now this is enacted only as a practice and the whole marriage ceremony resembles that of Kunbis except one of their traditional custom—the bridegroom takes the bride on the lap and their clothes are tied together in two places.
The sociological fact is that tribal culture reflects non-tribal cultural elements when it begins to claim social superiority.
In tribal culture, women’s freedom was valued such that they were allowed to choose their partners and stay with them. It is well known to sociologists and anthropologists that the flexibility of selection of partners for marriage in tribal culture, widow remarriages, divorce and separation were culturally acceptable and practised.

Cultural Practices Of Tribal Groups In India

However, due to the assimilation of tribal communities with non-tribal society, the former have imbibed caste patriarchal values. One such element with reference to the marriage systems amongst tribes has been the introduction of dowry.6
The giving of gold, gifts, cash, household gadgets, vehicles, electronics, etc, is common practice in caste Hindu marriages in the district and increasingly so, among tribals therein too. In “live-in” relationships amongst tribals, what was valued above all else was the individual freedom to choose partners and lifelong companionship. But in the present context, it is clear that tribal girls are exploited (even by tribal men) and that companionship is rejected by men.
Upper-caste men have had structural access to Dalit and Adivasi women for sexual exploitation, exercising this privilege as a matter of routine exercise of power as well as punishment for the latter’s assertions and transgressions (Navsarjan Trust et al 2013).
The changing political economy of the region has also rendered tribals dependent on the upper castes for livelihood, credit and accessing benefits from the state. This further accentuates the vulnerability of poor tribal girls and their families to exploitation at the hands of the village elite. As a result, the tribal community too suppresses the cases, rather than acknowledging it and furthermore stigmatising the victims and their families.

Lessons from Kerala

The issue of Kumari Matas as we know it now in Maharashtra had a close parallel in Kerala (where they were known as Avivahitharaya Ammamar [unwed mothers]), that too around the same time frame of the 1990s. But the approach of the Kerala government has been qualitatively different in dealing with the issue.
The Kerala government constituted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Committee 1996–98 to look into the issue of tribal unwed mothers in Idukki and Wayanad districts.7 The committee then submitted its report to the state government on 15 December 1997 with an exhaustive list of 34 recommendations in this regard.
The report focused on various aspects of discrimination and exclusion of the tribal women and emphasised on state intervention for legal action against the perpetrators of the crime and rehabilitation of the victims. The responsibility of undertaking the corrective measures was entrusted to the tribal development department.
The committee further recommended that the health department look into potential cases of sexually transmitted diseases and develop health awareness amongst tribal girls.
The committee also commented on the rampant sexual exploitation of tribal women workers in the tea plantations of Kerala and directed the tribal department to register hired labour in the plantations as well as to prevent outsiders from residing in tribal hamlets to stop the sexual exploitation of tribal women.
In order to avoid segregation and stigmatisation of the offsprings of tribal unwed mothers, the committee recommended that the Integrated Child Development Services centres (better known as anganwadis) be strengthened in such a way that their offsprings be treated equally (in comparison to other children) and with dignity.
The other recommendations focus on rehabilitation measures such as skill-training in handicrafts, priority for tribal unwed mothers in housing schemes, special attention to check the incidence of dropouts by their children by giving additional remuneration to anganwadi sevikas, etc.

Tribal Rights And Discrimination In India

The committee suggested the allocation of separate funds for the cause of rehabilitating these women through the above suggested measures.
Finally, the committee recommended that a monthly review of the implementation of said schemes and programmes should be undertaken by a committee chaired by the district collector. The social justice and empowerment ministry of Kerala provides a monthly payment of ₹1,000 as pension to 935 tribal unwed mothers in 16 districts of Kerala.8
The ministry sanctioned ₹6.89 crore for various schemes for unwed mothers in 2011–12, of which ₹3.03 crore was spent on rehabilitative measures, including provision of milch cows, goats, poultry, sewing machines, ration shop, basket-making training, housing, and funds for house repairs.
The gaps in implementation of the above schemes notwithstanding, the Kerala government’s approach is pragmatic and judicious. Here the issue of unwed mothers is dealt with seriousness and sensitivity. Besides outreach schemes, booking the culprits has been taken seriously as DNA tests were asked to be conducted on the offsprings of the affected women. Moreover, reservations/prioritising government jobs for the victims have been done with sincerity.9
In Kerala, due to high levels of literacy and awareness, the issue of unwed mothers was brought into the public sphere. The tribal associations have also played a crucial role in acknowledging the cases as that of sexual exploitation and coming forward to register FIRs against the culprits of such crimes.
Due to this proactive approach of the tribal community and preventive measures initiated by the police, the number of cases of unwed mothers in Kerala has come down.10 Besides this, the Kerala women’s commission has conducted two studies to assess the issue and suggest rehabilitative measures.
The study by P K Rejula, research officer at Kerala Women’s Commission, titled Problem of Unwed Tribal Mothers in Kerala in 2004, has brought out various facts about the issue: for instance, the changing status of tribal women in society, economic status and literacy levels of the victims, reasons for sexual exploitation, classification of culprits, etc.
Another study titled On the Cross-roads: Unearthing the Socio-economic Challenges Faced by the Unwed Mothers of the Paniya Tribes of Wyanad District, Kerala by Meena Nair (2007) brings out the gap in mainstream as well as governmental understanding of tribal culture so as to address the issue of unwed tribal mothers.
The study emphasises that this is important for effective policy interventions.
In Maharashtra, though the issue of Kumari Matas dates back to the 1990s it is clear (from the discussion in earlier sections) that this was suppressed till the visit of the NCW in 2013.
Even after this, it is found that in Maharashtra there is no political and/or bureaucratic will in dealing with the issue despite local NGOs, media and the women’s commission raising the issue repeatedly.
It is critical to note here that the tribal panchayats in Yavatmal have suppressed the issue unlike their counterparts in Kerala, foreclosing the possibilities of trying and punishing the culprits. There are no studies commissioned by the concerned government agencies though there are some proposals submitted by NGOs and research institutes pending with the Tribal Development Department, Tribal Research and Training Institute Pune, ITDP Pandharkawada, and additional tribal commissioner Amravati.
Till date, only one question has been raised in the legislative council of Maharashtra (dated 6 May 2014) on the issue and the following assurance was given by the government in response: initiation of child-rearing schemes,

Cultural Identity Of Tribal Communities India

Swadhargruha [hostel] to be constructed for rehabilitating Kumari Matas and their children, and
benefit under the cess fund of the zilla parishad to be given to Kumari Matas. It was found that with reference to the Bal Sangopan (child rearing scheme), 72 Kumari Matas (41 from Pandharkawada and 31 from Jhari Jamni) were getting ₹425 per month for their children (0–18 age group).
11 Further, just one training session and distribution of sewing machines to Kumari Matas was undertaken in the Pandharkawada region.12 Therefore, hardly any substantial efforts have been put in terms of preventive and rehabilitative measures for Kumari Matas, leaving the latter with a high sense of resentment.
In a meeting held at Nagpur under the chairmanship of Ambrishrao Atram, minister of state for tribal development in Maharashtra on 19 December 2014, 18 major decisions were taken regarding the rehabilitation and skill-training of Kumari Matas, expansion of benefits of social welfare and health schemes, extension of legal aid, counselling and legal awareness amongst tribal women.
On the ground, however, besides the survey, counselling, monthly child-rearing allowance, and training and distribution of sewing machines to a few hardly anything substantial has been done with reference to the prevention and rehabilitation of Kumari Matas in Maharashtra.

Conclusions

Discrepancies in the figures provided by various reports on the incidence of Kumari Matas suggest that the actual cases on the ground are likely to be more than what the reports suggest. In Maharashtra, the issue was concealed until 2009 with some investigations suggesting that the origins of the phenomenon dated back to the 1990s.
The suppression of cases in Maharashtra can be attributed to the tribal panchayats’ and leaders’ fears of inviting defamation and disgrace to the entire village and tribe, the nexus between culprits, local/village leaders—both tribal and non-tribal—and police patils which operates to suppress the crime, and the insensitive approach of the state government.
There is a need to understand tribal culture, especially “live-in” relationships therein and the rules surrounding it. The freedom of women and lifelong companionship were highly valued. Both these aspects have suffered in the face of stigmatisation and exclusion of Kumari Matas by the community.
The absence of acknowledgment that these are cases of sexual exploitation is further incrimination. In Maharashtra, there is a lack of sensitivity, political will, and sincerity, amongst the bureaucracy (barring a few) to deal with the issue.
While, in Kerala, the tribal associations have played a proactive role in reporting the cases, in Maharashtra the tribal associations have been instrumental in suppressing the cases. There is an urgent need to move beyond the frames of patriarchal morality and adopt a pragmatic and judicious approach in Maharashtra for preventive and rehabilitative measures for Kumari Matas.