Tribal girls in jain families !

The Other Side of IndiaGot to be a plain Jain Where have all the girls gone?
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Tricksters convert tribal girls to Jain brides to meet the growing demand

By Deepak Tiwari/Ujjain

Namo Arihantanam, Namo Siddhanam,
Namo Ayriyanam, Namo Uvajiyanam,
Namo Loe Savv-sahunam...
(The ancient Navkar mantra, a must for a Jain follower.)

It is a chant that tribal girl Rinku Nahal has down pat. After all, she was taught the Navkar mantra and shown the photo of a "naked deity" [Lord Mahavir]. "I learnt the mantra because I enjoyed it," says Rinku. Simple and trusting.

As if being a poor, unschooled, 16-year-old tribal girl from Khandwa, one of the remotest areas of Madhya Pradesh, isn’t difficult enough. Today, adding to her attendant hardships is the need to be wary of fraudsters who pluck her up from the lap of her family, dupe her into a ‘marriage’ ceremony, spirit her away to cities, familiarise her with Jain customs and then marry her to an unsuspecting Jain boy.

Saved but wary: Rinku and Devki after the 'conversion' debacle

Subterfuge did Rinku in. Four months ago, Fateh Singh, 68, of Ujjain, approached Rinku’s father, Jaswant Nahal, with a marriage proposal for his 17-year-old ‘relative’ Sashi Verma. Jaswant and wife, Godwari Bai, duped into thinking that they were marrying Rinku into a ‘good’ family, agreed to the proposal.

The following week Fateh Singh along with his ‘family’—Manju Jain, Munni Jain, Rajkumari Nandela and bridegroom Sashi—returned to the village for the marriage ceremony. When Jaswant called for a photograph to be taken of the young couple, the bridegroom’s family stopped him, saying, "We do not take photographs on such auspicious occasions!" Jaswant was given Rs 8,000 as dowry and was promised that Rinku would live happily ever after.

Fateh Singh, Manju, Munni, Verma and Rajkumari, members of a marriage bureau racket, deploy agents to remote villages to identify girls of different castes. When the girls are spotted, they are lured away and taught Jain practices and later married into rich Jain families of Surat, Nathdwara, Rajkot, Bangalore and Udaipur, for a price.

Devki with fathe
Devki was lured from her village by her lover Babu Mali who left her at Chanda’s house. In two months she was shown to a number of bridegrooms and was allegedly forced to sleep with a few.



After her ‘marriage’ to Verma, Rinku was separated from the boy and put up at Manju and Munni Jain’s house at Alakhdham Colony in Ujjain. They taught her to cook and light a gas stove. "At my house cooking was done on a chulha," says Rinku. She was told to say that her surname was Surana (Jain caste) and that her father’s name is Jaswant Surana while her maternal relatives are Mehtas.

Some members of the gang, acting as the girl’s family, met Sunil Jain, 32, of Surat, who was looking for a bride. Sunil, happy to get a girl of his caste, agreed to the match after paying Rs 50,000 as service fee to the bureau.

However, on the first day of marriage Rinku spilled the beans; she told Sunil she was not a Jain but a Thakur tribal. A shocked Sunil rang Manju and Munni Jain the same night and asked them to take the girl away.

Rinku was again shown to three prospective suitors. "I was asked to wear a sari whenever a boy came to see me. I served tea in a tray for them," she says.

Rinku was saved from further exploitation when a police informer noticed unusual goings on at Manju Jain’s residence. The police raided the house and discovered Rinku. A case has been registered against six persons.

Rinku with parents
On the first day of marriage Rinku spilled the beans; she told husband Sunil she was not a Jain but a Thakur tribal. A shocked Sunil rang Manju and Munni Jain the same night and asked them to take the girl away.

Upon interrogation, the police learnt of another girl, Devki, 18, daughter of Mohanlal Soni of Shajapur district, who was living in captivity with Chanda and Nirmala Soni.

Devki was lured from her village by her lover Babu Mali who left her at Chanda’s house. In two months she was shown to a number of bridegrooms and was allegedly forced to sleep with a few. "They took photographs of me in a sari and bridal wear to be shown to distant Jain families," says Devki.

Sub-Inspector Dipika Shinde, who is investigating the case, says: "In this case the girl was sexually abused but she too would have been later married as there is a high demand for girls in Jain and Maheswari communities." Superintendent of Police G. Janardan says: "We rescued these girls in time, otherwise they may have been married to boys in Bangalore."

Where have all the girls gone?

Jain population in India 4.2 million
Child sex ratio (0-6 years) among Jains; the second lowest in India 870 (per 1,000 males)

Child sex ratio in states with large Jain population: Gujarat below 832, Rajasthan 878, Madhya Pradesh 906,
Source: Census 2001

The gang is said to have been involved in 15 marriage deals with Jain families in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. "We do not want to touch families where couples are living happily," says Janardan. "After all, it becomes a life-long stigma if we register a case and the family gets involved. There are many instances where husbands know the real caste of their wives but other family members do not. If the girls are happy, it’s fine."

Manju Jain, prime accused in the case, told THE WEEK, "I am a social worker. I have been falsely accused." She, however, confessed to having facilitated the marriage of Sonu Sharma of Indore to Dinesh Jain of Dwarkapuri in Gujarat five years ago. Another girl from Fatehabad, who was married to the son of Shobalal of Surat, lives happily with two sons. The gang only targeted tribals and other upper castes and left scheduled castes alone. A Brahmin girl of Indore married into a Jain family of Bhilwara, Rajasthan. "There is very little difference between Brahmins and Jains. That is why there was no problem; what is wrong in it?" asks Munni Jain. She pleaded innocent, saying that the police had implicated her because she is Manju’s friend.

The Rinkus and Devkis of this world are mere numbers that add to the cases against enforced religious conversion. Perhaps the malaise lies in increased female foeticide. Child sex ratio patterns among religious communities in some states show a bias against the girl child (see box). So the vicious circle continues.