Sushma Karki, (name changed), 27, registered a case on her marriage at Urlabari CMC on 21st February 2015. She claimed that she and her husband held a secret marriage ceremony at a Hindu temple in Kathmandu (as they belonged to different castes) some months before and lived as a couple for the next six months. Everything was going well until her father-in-law came back from Dubai and asked them to live with him but only after fulfilling all marriage rituals. That meant both of them had to part for sometimes and live at their parents’ houses and get remarried in a traditional way. They agreed but the same night her in-laws made her husband run away to avoid the marriage. In a way, all of them betrayed her.
Sushma got panicked that her husband was missing and feared that it would invite some awful situation in the future. Sushma then with the help of some community people forcefully started to live as their daughter-in-law. Just because of the societal pressure, they allowed her to stay, however their behaviors were not gentle towards her. They started to abuse her so that she would leave their house. She waited for the next two months in the hope that the situation would improve. But as it turned worse, she registered an application at Urlabari CMC.
After she filed the case, the CMC issued a letter in the name of Sushma’s father-in-law and asked him to come along with his son for mediation on 23rd February. With a fear that the case would turn more complex if reached police, they brought their son with them for mediation. During the mediation, she demanded that he accepted her as wife and registered their marriage in the VDC office. However, it revealed that his earlier reluctance to accept her as wife was due to his obedience to his parents’ conservative practice on caste based hierarchy. Because of skillful facilitation done by the mediators, everyone realized their mistakes and promised to make a fresh start. The in-laws accepted her as their daughter-in-law, and took her with them with a promise that they would correct all the mistakes and would never again meddle in their marital life.
