Legal Aid Contributes to new and independent life free of Violence
January 01, 2017
Nirmala Puri (real name withheld), permanent resident of Morang had been living with her in-laws as her husband had gone abroad in connection to employment. Her in-laws used to verbally abuse her and even defame her raising issues over morality and probity. Siding with his parents, her husband had also been scolding her over telephone regularly. So much so that he used to misbehave her when back in Nepal for holidays.
As 3-day training of CeLRRd on GBV was ongoing at Itahara VDC, she approached the CeLRRd team and shared her problem with the team which suggested her to register her case at Itahara CMC for mediation. As suggested, she registered her dispute with the CMCs but despite mediators’ facilitation her dispute could not be reached agreement as she was unyielding in her stand that she be regularly paid some amount by her husband/in-laws for sustenance but the in-laws were against providing such support. When she registered her case, CMC called both the parties together and tried to mediate the case. But case got unsettled, as she wanted to get certain amount regularly for meeting her living expenses but her in-laws denied providing it to her. She, then, demanded for the share of her property, which was also rejected by her in-laws.
Unable to settle her dispute at CMC, the CMC at Itahara referred the case to CeLRRd Biratnagar for Victim Legal Aid Support.
Victim Legal Aid Lawyer of CeLRRd provided her with legal counseling detailing her about her rights regarding her case. CeLRRd, then, filed a case of partition and maintenance at Morang District Court on 18 February 2016. At first, defendant replied in defense statement that they would not provide property and maintenance to her wife. But later on as defendant themselves wanted mediation on the case, they provided a condition that if Nirmala accepted divorce, she would be provided with maintenance amount as well as her share of property. Realizing that it was not any good to continue conjugal life with a husband who does not want her, she mediated the case in Court on 20 March of the year.
While inquiring about her post-divorce life as a part of monitoring, she was found running her own beauty parlor and living happily with her son. And she shared happiness that her new life after divorce was better than before and she repented that she, due to lack of knowledge how to get rid of such violence, endured torture in the past.
