LAW: IGNORANCE OF THE LAW.

Twenty-year-old Shanti Kolhi is married but still lives with her parents, four sisters and two brothers. They live in village Bhooro Kolhi, located 8km west of Badin city, near the Morjhar canal on the main Karachi-Badin Road. Bhooro Kolhi is home to around 30 families of the poverty-stricken Kolhi caste.

In January 2017, while Shanti was still a 15-year-old schoolgirl, her parents arranged her marriage, without her consent, to Thanwar Kolhi, a 17-year-old farm labourer from the village Walho Kolhi, in Tehsil Tando Bagho. The marriage was solemnised by Parsomal Maharaj, an unregistered pandit from village Premoon Kolhi in district Badin.

Within just a few months of their marriage, the newly-wed couple began to quarrel, and then Thanwar beating up Shanti became a daily thing.

Shanti Kolhi

'He wanted to get rid of me so that he could marry a girl of his choice,' says Shanti. 'He would tie up my hands and feet and beat me for hours. His family remained silent spectators because he told them that I am in an illicit relationship with someone, and this was his way to bring me back on the right track.'

The Sindh Hindus Marriage Act 2018 is a progressive law that can address many of the religious and social issues impacting the lives of thousands of Sindh's scheduled caste Hindu women. Unfortunately, not many are aware of it

Ten months later, Thanwar dragged Shanti by her hair and threw her out of his house. 'It was impossible for me to get a bus to my parent's village, since it was late at night,' says Shanti. 'So I sat on the doorstep all night. Early in the morning, I got on a bus for my parents' house.'

A couple of weeks later, after the intervention of Kolhi community elders, Thanwar agreed to accept Shanti back, taking an oath to never beat her again. 'My parents and I had wanted reconciliation,' says Shanti. 'But very soon, the abusive behaviour and beating started again, despite the oath he took on the Bhagwad Gita in the temple.'

Seventy-two year old Hastu Kolhi, who was verbally divorced in 1982, could not remarry because of the social stigma

Thanwar continued beating Shanti even when she became pregnant. She had a miscarriage in the seventh month.

'He wasn't interested in the baby, but when I lost it, he accused me of aborting the baby,' says Shanti, wiping tears from her face. 'Once again, he sent me back to my parents. Now four and a half years have passed and he hasn't come to get me.'

Shanti's father, Rijhu Kolhi, has requested...

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