Deepa Sonaha (Real name withheld), 26 years old, is a permanent resident of Bardiya District. She has been living with her husband and mother-in-law for 4 years. She belongs to a very poor family who made their daily living by fishing.
She had been complaining of headache. As days passed by, she complained of a severe pain on her head before she got fainted. With the incident, her mental health started to get degrade. She started to stay alone and murmur. She disliked interacting with other people. Seeing her condition, her husband and mother-in-law abandoned her on March 2017 and made her leave their house. Lonely and helpless, she then entered into the forest of the Bardiya National Park thinking that she could kill herself by being eaten by tiger there. She roamed around the jungle the whole night and day but neither could she meet tigers nor death.
At 5:00 pm the next evening, she showed up in front of the office of the National Park. On the day, luckily, a medical camp was being organized in the office of national park. She was quietly observing the medical camp from the gate when CAG member Bina Bhattarai and Mediator Radha Chaudhary approached her. Seeing her condition, they asked her plight and story, which made them confirm that she was undergoing mental illness. In the medical camp she was treated with the available services and medication. Afterwards, Bina took Deepa to her home for a night and then was taken to Community Service Center, where she stayed until she recovered her health under medication.
When she got healthy, she told that her husband and mother-in-law physically abused her and threw her out of the house with the warning not to come at home again. So, she said, she decided to die and entered the jungle thinking that tiger could hunt her. Thakurdwara based CMC then called her husband for mediation. When both the parties engaged in dialogue in mediation sessions, her husband realized his mistake and committed to take her home, live together, not to abuse her again and to provide further treatment if required . Deepa, however, feared to return to home alone therefore a mediator accompanied her home and left her there when her mother- in- law agree to attend and take care of her.
As fishing inside the National Park is illegal despite the fact that Deepa’s family was living on fishing. The park later on turned further stringent on the rule which further led the family to sustenance problems. With the view to provide with an alternative to the family, the CMC initiated a lobby with the National Park if their family could be supported for income generation. The Park authority as asked for provided goats as an alternative income generation option. With this, the family shifted their occupation with the commitment that they would rear goats.
It was learnt, later that their goat farming was expanding gradually. Deepa herself made a call to CMC and said, “I am living happily with my family.” She further added. “I am very thankful to CMC for giving me new life.”
