India has been showing progress towards gender equality but still there has been numerous disconcerting instances against women that has been reported through which it came into light, many of them are still unreported. The Tenacity of preposterous customs has lead to sexual harassment and objectification of women in the society that they endure. An outrageous example of such exploitation against women has recently been recorded in a village of Shivpuri District of Madhya Pradesh known as “Dhadhicha Pratha.”
You must have heard of concepts such as renting houses, bikes, cars, rooms etc. but it might be disturbing and as well as surprising to hear about ‘Renting a Wife’. You read right, it might be hard to believe but upon reading this article you will be relevant with the fact that quite everything is possible in this pathetic patriarchal society.
Bride markets is prevalent in other countries such as Bulgaria, Burma, Pakistan and North Korea but shockingly it has found it’s way in India. The Shivpuri District of Madhya Pradesh has grabbed attention for the practice of renting out girls to men with criteria such as Virginity and physical appearance playing a role in the selection process.
What is Dhadhicha Pratha?
The Odious Practice of Renting a Wife is known as ‘Dhadhicha’ and the women or girl that is being sold or rented out is known as ‘Parao’ or ‘Molki” which means ‘Price’. Annually a market is established where families willingly offer their daughters or wives for rent and men participating there select women to be their companions.
Its surprising to know that the parents or guardian willingly lease their girls to men, even involving married men i.e husbands renting out their wives to others for a particular time period as mentioned in the contract. Wives are handed to prosperous businessmen who lack spouse. All of these transaction are done through legally valid stamp paper of ten rupees.
The Abominable crime of female infanticide has significantly skewed India’s sex ratio particularly affecting regions such as Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Men of these areas have difficulty in finding brides, leading them to purchase or rent women from economically disadvantaged regions such as Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and others. Families agree to sell their daughters to avoid hefty dowries. These transactions are typically carried out by brokers who retain major portions of sum for themselves, leaving only a smaller share for the families.
Process of Selection
The deeply unsettling fact is that small girls i.e the girls as young as of the age of 6 to no maximum age limit are being sold or rented. Even before reaching to puberty these girls faces such extreme sexual, mental and physical exploitation. Its totally astonishing to know the fact that their own parents or guardians often give them drugs to enhance their breast muscles which would make them look appealing and mature so they could get higher prices for her. This is so awful, we cannot even imagine their pain and suffering.
They are married off for a certain amount of time once they have been hired. Everyday these girls are being raped not just by the husband but also other males of the household, they are just being objectified as a sex toy for males to fulfil their sexual desires without any humanity. In these kind of houses even father-in-law is permitted to have sexual relations with the girls. These girls serves as sex machines for promiscuous person and as an income generating machines for their parents and husbands.
Process of deciding price and about contract
In the context of Dhadicha, the focus is primarily on virgin girls aged between 8 to 15 years, and they are given preference over married women. The price or the valuation depends on the duration for which a man intends to have her as a wife, whether by an hour, a day, a month or a year. Usually the price of the bride is around 15,000 to 25,000 per bride. The age of the bride significantly affects the price, younger the bride higher the amount. Sometimes price even reaches up to 2 lakh rupees if the bride is virgin, beautiful and physically appealing. Non-virgin are valued at Rs. 10,000 to 15,000 can vary also, taking into the account factors such as age, skin tone, beauty and number of prior contractual marriages that she have been involved in.
In the contract, that is being made during renting out the duration, price and other important information are being mentioned. Once the stipulated period is over she is either renewed to the same guy or returned to the family where they are again priced and sold to new clients, the cycle goes on.
There is a rule that women can withdraw or get out from the contract whenever they want but that is just written they aren’t empowered to use it. To withdraw from the contract women need to give an affidavit and after that she has to return the predetermined rental amount to her ex-husband. Women accepting more money from another client is also a breach of contract. These contacts are legally valid, cannot believe that activities of these kinds are legalised in the name of custom.
Other facts about this
Many reasons are there for this evil practice being followed from decades to today such as illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, gender ratio, blind faith on customs but moreover the people have this explicit thought that they own women and they have the total control over their life, whatever they decide have to be followed by her as if they enslave her. She isn’t being treated as a human by this pathetic inhuman patriarchal society but is treated as a toy or object that can be used according to their desires and need where her feelings and consent aren’t validated.
Many people consider this inhuman option because this is the cheapest way to make money by giving less time and input, we often tend to think that the males involved in selling or renting out must be poor, illiterate and is labelled as lower class by the society, but the Irony here is that men from wealthy families and so called higher class, men who are literate come to these kind of markets to rent a wife. Men who don’t have a job, don’t want to live with a single girl for their rest of the life, widowed men, men who cannot get a wife in their locality come to these markets and select wife for them, for the time period they desire.
This is not a thing only in the village of Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, similar cases have been reported in Gujrat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and etc., For example In Dholpur Rajasthan women are sold in market days, women market is placed just beside the cattle market but the only difference is that the price of the cattle is higher than the price of the women being sold.
These girls are being illtreated in every manner mentally, emotionally and mainly sexually and the irony here is that this is done by the people who are her own family, father or spouse. There is no one with whom she can feel safe and share her feelings and express her anguish. Many people come in touch with lethal infections such as HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis B.
Stories of Pain From Disgust
There is a long list of women who have been subjected to this type of torture. Many people remain silent, while few have spoken up:
“I was too naïve to realise what was going on until I realised I was married off to a man four times of my age!” recalls Reshma, who was rented by her parents when she was 8 years old. She was offered a salary of Rs. 60,000 per year. Her parents stipulated that the spouse would have sexual intercourse with her once she reached puberty. However, she was raped not only by her husband but also by her brother-in-law on the first night of her wedding. This went on for a year. She was afterwards returned to her family to be rented out to another guy. Fortunately, years after being rented to 9 different clients she was able to contact a NGO and was brought to understand that whatever happened was not her fault. She was later placed in a child welfare home.
“He suddenly grabbed me and attacked me with a knife!” says Mahira, who was brought as a bride by a guy in Haryana for Rs. 80,000/- when she was fourteen years old.
“I wanted to flee on the first night of my wedding.” “I cried for help but no one came!” claims Saiba, who was rented to a widower by her brother. Every night, she was tormented into sleeping with many guys.
“I would never let this happen to my daughter!” says Shabana, whose parents Shabana, whose parents sold her for a pittance of Rs. 15,000/- to many men from the same families.
There are many such stories of women whose life have been made living hell or even worse than that, their pain is unimaginable.
Have Any Actions Been Taken Against This Practise?
This outrageous practice have been going on for decades but has only now come into light. There has been some study done on this subject. Media attention is likewise minimal and even police aren’t doing anything as they are waiting for the complaint to be registered, they are also uninterested in looking into such matters.
Few NGOs have taken notice and are working hard to bring the problem forefront. They are striving to make people aware that these activities are illegal, they cannot sell women. People of village contend that it is part of their custom and a significant source of money for them.
In India there are laws against bride trafficking. Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour is punishable under the immoral Traffic Prevention Act, The Bonded Labour Abolition Act, The Child Labour prohibition act, The Juvinile Justice Act. All types of trafficking, forced begging, and bonded labour are prohibited under the Indian Constituton. However, research has demonstrated that there are many gaps in the law’s treatment of human trafficking and slavery. This makes understanding and recognising it much more challenging.
Conclusion
These things are happening like business, its so Shameful and extremely inhuman. When you are in need of money you rent them out like an object regardless of the fact that she is human. It is inexcusable for parents and spouse to do so in any prevailing conditions, nothing is justified for this heinous act. We need more stricter laws regarding this and we also need to make people aware that it is ethically and morally wrong, it is wrong in every way and also that it is illegal.