Anju Tharu of Dakshin Bhakari village, Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality-4, Bardiya, chose the path of suicide on 22 Kartik. Her father Kanchha, who was mourning the death of his daughter, also committed suicide four days later.

Was the suicide of the father and daughter an impulsive act? What are the reasons behind Anju's suicide, leaving behind her seven-year-old daughter? Why was she not legally entitled to citizenship because she was born a girl? Tired of running around offices, courts, and administration, she chose the path of suicide. Are there other reasons connected to this incident? We have tried to explain this incident in five questions and answers.

Why did 22-year-old Anju Tharu and her 61-year-old father Kanchha Tharu commit suicide?

To understand this incident of father-daughter suicide, we have to go back 8 years. At that time, Anju was 15 years old. One day, the news of her pregnancy spread in the village. After investigating, it was found that the pregnancy was due to an affair with Anil Tharu from a neighboring village. After the panchayat was held, Anil took Anju to the temple, applied vermilion, and brought her home. On 24 Mangsir 2075, Anju gave birth to a daughter. After the birth of her daughter, a fight began between Anju and Anil.

As the relationship deteriorated, Anju returned to her mother on 14 Poush 2076. When Anil ignored her, Anju went to the Bardiya District Court on 8 Magh 2076 demanding a share. But Anil claimed that the child born to Anju was not his daughter. The court did not annul the marriage, saying that even though both of them were underage, there was no complaint from anyone. Instead, it divided the share that Anil would receive in three parts and decided that Anju and her daughter Anita would receive two parts.

Even if she won the share case, Anju needed citizenship and her daughter's birth certificate to get her share and her daughter's share. But the ward office kept delaying granting her citizenship, saying that the marriage was not registered and that the court order was not clear.

Anju, frustrated after not getting justice despite going to court for months and winning the case, chose the path of suicide. Four days after the incident, the father, Kanchha, also committed suicide.

This incident is a representative example of how poor and low-class citizens end up in a state of giving up on life while seeking justice. The weak legal and administrative mechanism seems to be mainly responsible for Anju and Kanchha Tharu being forced to commit suicide. On the one hand, marriage at a young age, the obligation to return to their parents when their husbands did not support them. On the other hand, even though they were decided to receive a share, there was an obstacle in not getting citizenship and birth certificate and not getting a share. It seems that this incident took place amidst this confusion.

Did Anju not get justice because she got married and had a child before reaching the age of majority? Or was there a problem with the identity of the father of her daughter?

Section 74 of the Civil Code 2074 states that if a woman conceives a child through physical contact with a man and gives birth to a child, such a woman and a man are considered married. Similarly, there is a provision that even if a woman and a man who are under 20 years of age have physical contact and give birth to a child, they are considered married.

According to this provision, the court ruled that Anju and Anil were husband and wife even though the marriage was not registered and that they would have the right to the daughter. The court said in the order, ‘Even though there is a provision that marriage cannot take place until the age of 20, the minor daughter has been born, no one has annulled the marriage, and the defendants have accepted the court order, so it appears that the right to the share remains.’

The ward office could have relied on this legal basis to get Anju citizenship and the birth certificate for the daughter. Anju and her father visited the ward office 8 to 10 times for citizenship and birth certificate, but nothing worked.

Anil had also argued in court that the daughter was not his. Then the court fixed a date for DNA testing on 29 Poush 2077, but Anil did not appear. Then the court decided on the birth certificate and share of the newborn daughter on 20 Kartik 2079. Therefore, Anju should easily get citizenship and share and the child’s birth certificate should also be easy.

What is the ward office’s argument in this incident ?

Ward Chairman Nare Thapa of Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality-4 said that he came to the ward on 8 Magh 2081 with a letter from the court adjudicating Anju Ansh. He claimed that the court had not clarified the issue of citizenship and birth registration. ‘It seems that the court has only adjudicated Ansh,’ said Ward Chairman Thapa, ‘A separate application was not submitted for the recommendation of citizenship and the birth registration of the daughter.’

Thapa says that he is trying to act according to the law since the citizenship of both the husband and wife is required to register the birth of a child.

Despite Thapa’s statement, Section 4 of the Children’s Act 2075 BS provides for the right of every child to be named and have a birth registration along with their identity. It is mentioned that after the birth of a child, the parents must register the birth according to the prevailing law.

There is also a legal provision that children born through rape or consanguinity must have a birth registration. In such a case, the mother can register the birth by mentioning only the mother’s name. But it seems that the ward office has ignored all these provisions.

What do human rights activists say about this incident?

Hima Sunar, coordinator of the Civil Society Network Bardiya, said that Anju chose the path of suicide because she was not given the rights provided for in the constitution. She said, ‘It is sad that Anju committed suicide after being deprived of her right to identity.’

Human rights activist and advocate Mohana Ansari said that there was weakness in this incident from the ward to the District Administration Office. According to her, the District Administration Office does not seem to have fulfilled its responsibility to make the woman’s citizenship for the share.

Where is Anju’s husband Anil, who is at the center of this incident? Is the police conducting some investigation against him?

Anil is absconding after the incident. The victim's family has filed a complaint against Anil at the Area Police Office, Mainapokhar, for abetment to suicide. Inspector Prakash Singh Karki, Information Officer of the District Police Office, Bardiya, said that an investigation is underway into the complaint, adding that an arrest warrant has been obtained from the court against the absconding Anil and that the search for him is ongoing. The victim's family has been demanding a thorough investigation into the incident and action against the culprits.