Many women who suffered during the conflict have not been able to file a complaint anywhere due to the fear of their identity being made public
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It was a time of crisis. Suddenly the army came to the village and started searching the house. They took control of her husband who had gone to the farm and started beating him. "My husband is innocent, I folded my hands to let him go," she said, "They asked for my body in return."
To save her husband's life, she swallowed the excesses of the military officer with a gulp of tears. On the day of the incident, the husband came to know about it, after which the family problems also started. On the other hand, the fear that the village society would find out also started bothering him.
Even after two decades, this mental conflict and family antagonism are making him shake. She is not even able to file a complaint against the victim as there may be rumors. Since she did not file a complaint, she is not registered as a victim in the eyes of the state. As a result, she has not received any relief, compensation or assistance like others who became victims during the armed conflict.
Devi Khadka, who is rallying those women victims who are living horrible lives without telling anything about the barbarism, says, "They have a great fear that their privacy will be breached and they will become more insecure rather than moving forward for justice."
The national network established by Khadka for the justice and reparation of victimized women has included more than 3 thousand women who were raped during the conflict. But the state has not identified any of them as victims.
After the network raised their voice saying that they did not get justice, even as victims, in the latest amendment of the Act on Transitional Justice, a provision is included to file a complaint within three months. Appointed officer in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission After that, the victim can file a complaint against the perpetrator. But they are afraid that when they file a complaint, their privacy will be exposed and they will be more insecure from the perpetrator.
A victim woman says that she is worried that her family and society will not be able to live if the details of the incident become public when she filed a complaint. "We don't even have evidence against the victim, on the contrary, we are in a dilemma whether to file a complaint for fear of being insulted and insecure," she said.
If the burden of proof required to punish the guilty is also imposed on the victims, the chances of them getting justice will be even weaker according to the lawyers. "The law looks for unquestionable evidence before punishing the perpetrator, but the victim is not in a position to collect this evidence and provide more information to help in the investigation," says human rights lawyer Indira Sharma, "therefore, the victim has put forward a demand that the deranged mental state, damaged body and poor health should be taken as evidence, the state should take it seriously." She said that it is her demand that a specialized unit should be formed in the commission and that only that unit should receive complaints of sexually abused women so that confidentiality is maintained. "We demand that the unit should take the complaint in two sections," she says, "In the first section, the details of the incident should be included, which does not matter if it is disclosed." In the second section, the victim's personal details should be taken and coded and kept confidential, otherwise the victim will have to file a complaint." "If the matter reaches the union and the state, the privacy and security of the victims will not be preserved," she said, "whatever compensation the government gives us, it should be given from the union, otherwise the victims will not be able to move forward for justice."
