NHRC asks state to file report on sexist practice among tribals

Taking a serious note of the complaint by a local NGO against a sexist practice that banishes tribal women from villages during menses

Taking a serious note of the complaint by a local NGO against a sexist practice that banishes tribal women from villages during menses,National Human Rights Commission has sought a reply from the Maharashtra government on the issue.

The office of the NHRC has asked Maharashtra chief secretary to submit report within four weeks regarding this age-old practice, said Dilip Barsagade,president of NGO Sparsh.

The NGO had urged NHRC to intervene in preventing the gaokor practice saying it makes life of tribal women miserable.

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Gaokar is a thatched hut usually set up on the outskirts of villages where women have to stay in isolation for five days during their menstruation cycle. The women and young girls are banned from moving in their respective village so that others do not get contaminated.

As per the practice,even if one happens to see the women he/she has to take bath for purification. Meals are provided to women at a distance and they are forced to live in very unhygienic and pathetic conditions without electricity and other basic facilities during menses, Barsagade had said in his letter to NHRC.

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