बाजुरामा दलित भित्रै यस्तो छुवाछुत देखियो

Bajura/Mar 31, Jay BK and Dharma Nepali of Bajura got married around 16 years ago. The couple, however, is still not allowed to enter BK’s home. Both Jay and Dharma are from Dalit community. Dharma is said to belong to a ‘lower caste’ within the Dalit community. 

Therefore, Jay’s family has refused to accept Dharma as their daughter-in-law. Due to family rejection, Jay has been living in a hut near his house with his wife and two sons. His sons were born and grew up there in the hut. They too are barred from entering the house of their grandparents. Despite facing such discrimination, Dharma has been helping her husband’s family in all household chores, farming and collecting fodder. She frequents her parents’ home for two meals a day and returns to her and her husband’s hut at night.Dharma said she did not dare to enter her in-laws’ house after she was threatened of severe consequences. “We were never allowed inside the house as my in-laws believe our entry will bring diseases and disaster to the family,” Dharma added. 

Jay’s father Joga BK admitted that he had barred his son and his family from entering the house since Jay ‘had gone against the social norms by marrying someone from a lower caste’. Dharma bemoaned that all the BKs in the village looked down on them. “The villagers humiliate us all the time. My parents are impoverished and hence we are subjected to injustice,” Dharma lamented. Jay and Dharma are a case in point. Caste-based discrimination within the Dalit community is rife in this part. People from Nepali and Gandharv castes are not allowed to enter the houses of people of BK, Sunar or Chadar castes.