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Bebobai could not come, her daughter Asha Chouhan brought her testimony

Bebobai, Madhya Pradesh - Grooms at a price among the Bachhadas

I Bebobai, belong to Bachhada community, who are considered dalits in Madhya Pradesh. This community resides in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur, Neemach, and Ratlam). In the rigid Brahmanical caste hierarchy, the Bedia and Bacchara community comes in the lowest rungs. The men and women of the community have been pushed to the extreme margins of society, not only socially but also geographically. The communities experience severe caste discrimination in practically all spheres of their life. The caste name is used as an abuse by the upper caste, the children of the community are not treated equally in schools, and the mobility and movement of young girls are highly restricted due to the attitude of the men of the other community. This leads to increased disenchantment in the community wherein they often try to live up to the brand.

I am a resident of Mandasur district of M.P. village Morekheda. Since I am from this community and being women, I have suffered a lot in my life. I have two daughters and I don't want them to be exploited sexually and economically, so I refused to follow the traditions of my community and am providing them with good education. Being a woman from Bachhada community I felt worthless. There is feminization of poverty in my community as poverty leads to increased vulnerability of women. Moreover, by virtue of the caste, women are more prone to getting into this practice and get the false sense of prestige attached to it. In fact, poverty seems to be only a woman’s issue. Men can sit at home but women are compelled to take up this work to earn the family’s bread and butter. They are also coerced into the belief that this is the only option for them.

Sexual abuse of Bachhada community is approved by the society itself. If patriarchy were personified, it would have the face of a Bachchda man! It takes various forms: discrimination, disregard, insult, control, exploitation, oppression, and violence – in the family, at work place as well as in society. Sexual exploitation and trafficking of young girls is one way by which women/girls are exploited as per the desires of the males. At the community level, it is the obligatory circumstances under which the women are forced into this practice, whereas outside, there are clear instances of violation of basic human rights in terms of physical abuse, torture and emotional trauma.

Within the society, there are systems which very subtly, work in favour of women taking up sex work on their own. While on one hand, there is extreme exploitation of women in the trade, whereas, on the other hand, the married women are restricted to purdah, and are not even allowed to go to school once engaged (for the fear of being ‘sullied’). They are also victims of physical violence, live in low prestige and have very little freedom. The ‘working’ woman, ostensibly, enjoys much more freedom and lives a life of dignity. This coerces many women and girls into the false belief of taking up this practice and the apparent sense of empowerment attached to it. This is a typical example of social conditioning through commoditization of sexuality in which the respect and prestige centers are very clearly located outside the family life and by commoditizing sexuality, a living is earned.


Political Economy of Marriage: As expressed earlier, it is seen that the women/girls often take up this practice from their own choice. There could be many reasons behind this. Marriage as an institution amalgamates both dowry (Bedia) and bride price (Bachhda). Thus there is an entire political economy which hints at marriage of a brother at the cost of his sister. Moreover, to obtain the brides as per their price, it is often another woman who has to be brought into the trade. Many times, parents who cannot afford to pay a hefty sum as dowry, often end in introducing her into the trade. This has an entire dynamics of gender wherein the manifold exploitation of women gathers a social acceptance. This is a tradition of Bachhada community to bring the girls in the business of sex work in the age between 10 to 12 years. In the community if a family has two daughters they decide to bring one for this trade and other is married. When the family decides to get any of their daughters married, the marriage is fixed at a very early age. This community has a tradition of taking money from the groom’s family in-lieu of the bride and this is known as Vadhu-Mulya. This amount of Vadhu-Mulya comes out to be between 150000 to 200000 which is constantly on rise. It is taken by the bride’s family in instalments right from the day the marriage is fixed. Apart from Vadhu-mulya, other household things are given as dowry. Because of the tradition of Vadhu-Mulya and dowry, the other girl who is into sex work has to earn more to fend for her brother as well as sister. The arrangement of vadhu mulya for the son’s marriage is also the onus of the working daughter. To earn vadhu-mulya the girl in this business has to suffer physical sexual and mental harassment.

In our community, if in any case, if the marriage does not solemnize from the girl’s side, the caste Panchayat forces the girl to go through “Agni Pareeksha” (a bad traditional custom in which the lady has to walk on fire) or has to pay back double the Vadhu-Mulya charged by her parents to the groom’s family. For example if the Vadhu-mulya was 150000 to 200000 then girl's family has to repay 300000 to 400000. The irony is that in both cases of marriage or break up of marriage, it’s the girl who has to bear the burden and repay the amount. Dowry as well as Vadhu Mulya, both are a curse for a female as they both exploit her only. We, in society, have witnessed one form of dowry, but in Bachhada community women bear the double suffering of repaying the Vadhu-mulya for which they have to indulge in sex work. The married girl has to bear taunts from her in-laws about her Vadhu-mulya and she is harassed about dowry. She has to bear this mental suffering through out her life.