“I have suffered a lot due to my silence. Not anymore.”

“I have suffered a lot due to my silence. Not anymore.”

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Manisha was married at the age of 12 and beaten by her husband for the next 9 yrs. What did she do? Find out. http://bit.ly/1hnW0Wy

Find out how @OxfamIndia helped Manisha stand up for her rights.

Manisha was married at the age of 12 in 2002 to a man in Jati village of Kaushambhi district, Uttar Pradesh. Her husband was working in Mumbai, while she lived with her in-laws. Whenever the husband returned home, he used to beat her.

Since there was almost no resistance from Manisha the violence kept on increasing by the day.  In 2011, Manisha’s husband sold her to a household at Allahabad. But Manisha made a courageous escape from that household and went back to her village in Chaitrakoot district.

Now 25-years-old, Manisha, with help from Oxfam India’s partner, Vanangana,  is committed to earn a living of her own and get out of her past life, which was full of violence. 

Under its gender justice programme in Uttar Pradesh, Oxfam India is supporting women survivors of domestic violence by providing them legal aid, medical and shelter assistance. 

 “Earlier, my in-laws along with my mother had bought around 10 bighas of land in Chaitrakoot of which 7 bighas belonged to my husband and rest to my mother. With an aim to put pressure on us and snatch away our property, my in-laws started making false accusations against me. All the limits were crossed when one day they accused me of attacking my father-in-law, who was then residing in Kaushambhi,” said Manisha.

She also informed that soon after the incident her husband registered around a dozen false police complaints against her and she had to spend a year behind bars in 2013. After coming out of jail, she was spending most of her time making rounds of courts. 

However, things started to change when she met a staff member of our partner, Vanangana on a court premises.

“When she provided details of her suffering, we initiated the process to provide her immediate help through our partner based in Chitrakoot. Due to this aid today most of the false cases against her have been dismissed by the court. Only three are left and we are sure that she is going to come out victorious from all of them,” said a staff member of Vanangana.

Manisha has now started tailoring shop at her village and is not only earning bread for herself but also for her family. 

Though, her husband now wants to get a divorce, she wants to teach him a lesson. “I have suffered a lot due to my silence. I will not divorce him and will make sure that he does not marry again in the future. Giving him divorce will free him and he can happily lead his life,” Manisha added.

Written by: Oxfam India staff

Photo credit: Oxfam India