Arputhammal (India)


 

Mobilising women against Caste and Gender violence)

Arputhammal, is an agriculture laborer from Illupur village and post,  Kanagammachatram, Tiruttani Taluk, Thiruvellore District, Tamil Nadu. She has studied upto class five.She belongs to Dalit community.  When she was 17 years old she got married to an agricultural labourer. She used to work with her husband in two acres of land which belonged to her father in-law.   Arputhammal studied up to 5th standard.She has two daughter and two sons. Her life was full of hard work and less income. Her husband left her for other women and she had to bring up her four children as a single mother. She faced multiple layers of discrimination as a single woman and as a dalit.

There  was a village meeting organized by Rural Women’s Liberation Movement on Women’s health. The movement gave her an opportunity to learn mid wifery with a medical kit. She started attending child births in the surrounding villages. This has opened the doors for an outer world.  She started associating with Rural Women Liberation Movement which was addressing issues of violence against women and dalits.

The “Rural Women Liberation Movement” addressed an issue of a gang rape of a twelve year old child.  She took part in the procession asking for justice of the victim and her participation in related meetings made her to understand various dimensions of caste and gender violence issues.

She started taking part in the movement activities.  She along with the movement fought and got land ownership deeds for 40 women and lobbied for support of Government schemes for construction of 32 houses with the ownership of women.  The movement realized that illicit liquor was responsible for violence against women.  With the help of police the movement abolished liquor from the community.

 

Arputhammal had an opportunity to attend an exchange program of women farmers at Malaysia. The situation was such that she had to travel by air all alone for the first time without speaking a word in English. But she managed the travel beautifully by following the neighbor’s actions, reached the program destination and gained a lot through the program.

Over a period of time working with the movement, she has become the president of the movement which is spread to 350 villages of Vellore, Thiruvellore and Kancheepuram districts of Tamil Nadu state.  She has established a very good rapport with higher ranking officials and she has been addressing issues of domestic violence and dowry.

 

There was a dowry death in her community. But the in laws covered it up as a suicide. Arputhammal inspected the place and understood that it was a murder for dowry. She went to meet the District Superindent of Police and managed to meet him during a busy meeting and represented the issue. The officer appreciated her courage and dedication and ordered for enquiry on the issue. She accompanied the police squad and showed various evidences of murder. She also redeemed the jewels and belongings of the girl with the help of police and gave it to the parents.

She understood the importance of property rights of women started working on it. She fought for the inheritance of her share in the family property of her maternal home. She understood the importance of political participation of women and contested in the elections of legislative assembly. Though she did not it was an empowering process for herself and the movement

 

She leads her movement addresses issues of violence against women, land rights for women, protection of natural resources and for promotion of natural farming.

She was able to seek justice for victims of violence. Her presence has made other women to come out to the public domain. She believes in the mobilization of women and concerted effort would yield results for an issue. She believes that land rights for women are instrumental for women empowerment. She wants the implementing mechanisms for the “property rights of women” to be strengthened. She also asks for 5 acres of agricultural land for landless women agricultural labourers.