SCIENCE has come to the rescue of scores of sexually-exploited tribal women in Kerala. In a novel venture with far-reaching implications, the state government and the Women's Commission have initiated steps to conduct DNA tests to identify men who have fathered the children of the unwed mothers of Wayanad and Attappady.
The villages nestling among verdant rice fields harbour hapless women burdened with illegitimate children. Most of these women are victims of non-tribals who entice them with false promises of marriage. Tribal girls recruited as maids or casual labourers on plantations and estates are sexually abused by their masters. And are then left to fend for themselves when they become pregnant. Many are lured into prostitution. The money they bring in provides a strong incentive for other girls who see it as a means of escape from a life of poverty.
Official figures put the proportion of single mothers in the two tribal strongholds at 342. And investigations are under way to determine paternity in 103 cases based on complaints received by the government. DNA testing is regarded as a foolproof means of establishing the identity of the vagrant fathers and fixing responsibility for maintenance and child support. The problem is particularly acute in Wayanad district which has the largest concentration of Adivasis in the state. Government estimates put the number of unwed mothers in Thirunelly panchayat of Wayanad at 99; a community-wise breakup indicates that the Adiyars top the list with 73 cases, followed by the Paniyars with 11, Kattu Naikars 7, Kurumars 6 and Kurichairs 2. These tribal communities form the focus of the government's DNA programme.
Cynicism runs high among the sexually exploited, despite all the government's proclamations. A Special Mobile Squad set up to deal with the problem has worked against the interest of the victims.
Says Parvati, 33, a single mother: "I filed a complaint with the police and pointed out the man who made me pregnant. But no action has been taken so far". Parvati has a 15-year-old daughter by a non-tribal man who works in a medical store at the nearby town of Mananthavady. But he has refused to acknowledge his paternity and Parvati ekes out a subsistence wage as a casual labourer whenever work is available.
The plight of an unwed mother is tragic. As in the case of Subhi. On June 12, 1994, the 27-year-old Adivasi girl, seven months pregnant, bled to death on an abortionist's table. She left behind two little daughters. The public outcry that ensued forced the police to arrest the man responsible for her pregnancy and her death. But in November 1996, he was set free by the district judge—for lack of evidence. The Adivasi community went into shock.
Ramakrishnan, Subhi's uncle and a member of the Thirunelly Grama Panchayat, is indignant and overwrought. "The court should take the word of the girl. It should not insist on calling witnesses. If one man is convicted for this offence, it would serve as a deterrent," he says.
Often, money provides the means for a perpetrator to get off the hook. Rajani, 23, of the Adiyar tribe, was seduced by a boy from the forward caste Nair community. When she became pregnant, local political workers took up the issue and compelled the boy to agree to marry her. But his parents had other plans. They paid Rs 25,000 to Rajani's father in order to settle the matter without their son having to marry a tribal woman. Rajani now lives with her son Rakesh Kumar in the Adiyar colony in Thirunelly, seemingly unmindful of her status as an unwed mother.
Much of the problem seems to stem from the shrinking authority of the tribal headman, which has led to an atmosphere of permissiveness within the community. Observes Kuttapan, an Adiyar tribesman: "In Adiyar and Paniyar tribes, the elders have lost control and influ-ence over the young. They have the largest number of unwed mothers. In other tribes, a girl who is pregnant out of wedlock is an outcast." The tribal heritage does not equip Adivasis to resist exploitation by outsiders. Over the decades, they have been swarmed by hordes of settlers who addicted them to alcohol, dispossessed them of their lands and sexually abused their women. Adivasis, once a majority in the hill district of Wayanad, have shrunk to a minority, and now constitute only 17 per cent of the total population of the district. Their habitant lies invaded, their lifestyle irrevocably disturbed.
The unwed mothers of Thirunelly are a legacy of that tumultuous era. And present a picture of violated innocence. Take the case of Valli, the most recent such case to come to the notice of the authorities. Surendran, a non-tribal, made her pregnant but also offered to marry her. Valli spurned him. "I don't like him," says Valli, who is seven months pregnant.
THE perpetrators have a field day in covering up their offences. They have little to fear as even the police collude with them. Says a police official: "Wayanad is a punishment posting for every policeman. His job commitment is low. He does not view the Adivasi problem with any degree of seriousness. The tribals are not a powerful lobby for him to worry about". It is an open secret in the district that the cops deployed in the '70s to check Naxalite activity had no small role in swelling the ranks of Wayanad's unwed mothers.
The government's DNA initiative is intended to ease the burden of some of these women. It promises to be an uphill task. First, enormous funds have to be mobilised. A single test done recently worked up to a whopping Rs 45,000. Blood samples had to be flown all the way to a government lab at Hyderabad. But costs are now expected to be cut by half with the alternative DNA testing facility that has come up in Thiruvananthapuram.
The single DNA testing that has been done so far has been confined to one case involving a minor blind girl who had multiple sex partners. The girl charged four men with sexual abuse, among them a government official from Kottayam. The men volunteered to undergo DNA tests and were subsequently found innocent. The real culprits are still at large for the overwhelming practical reason that too many blood samples need to be taken.
A tricky legal question is whether blood samples can be obtained from an accused against his will. A court order would be required in the normal course. The Women's Commission, which enjoys judicial powers, could issue such a direction. Alternatively, Section 53 of the Criminal Procedure Code can be invoked whereby the police can arrest a non-cooperative witness and draw blood samples without his consent.
The Women's Commission is upbeat about the programme. Says Commission secretary Valsala Kumari: "It is the only scientific way that you can establish the paternity of a child born out of wedlock". But the single mothers of Wayanad are less than satisfied. They have lost faith in the government and are critical of the Women's Commission for its tardy pace. Commission chairperson Sugatha Kumari retorts: "Ours is a young commission. We started just a year ago. It is not time enough for these women to be disillusioned with our efforts. We have more than 6,000 cases before us. We cannot deliver overnight justice".
But the Adivasis of Wayanad feel they have suffered too long. Last month, they decided to take action. In a dramatic move, tribals led by firebrand activist C.K. Janu cordoned off an 18-acre stretch of reserve forest at Panavalli in Wayanad. They hoisted a board declaring 'self-rule' and prohibiting the entry of non-tribals into the area. "Restricting the movements of outsiders in tribal colonies will ensure that the number of unwed mothers does not increase," explains Janu. Forest Department officials were quick to dismantle the board and the government expressed its disapproval over the event. But the tribals had made their point. And are determined to make it again by erecting another board in what they see as a symbolic last-ditch effort to salvage the dignity and honour of Adivasi women.
