Women struggle against Maoists as men flee villages
Women are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of Nepal's brutal civil war, as men flee affected villages and wives and daughters are left to face forced Maoist recruitment and harsh penalties for dissent.
Reports emerged this week from the remote western district of Baglung that the Maoists had tortured six women with drills - accusing them of belonging to a rival, non-violent communist group called the People's Front.
Local reports said Rupa Thapa was dragged from her house and her arms, legs and head were drilled with a wood gauge during a three-hour ordeal. Six months pregnant, Achula Sapkota was similarly tortured and left for dead. All the women are now in hospital.
In Dailekh, also in the remote west, women lead an ongoing uprising against Maoist brutality in which several rebels have been beaten and as many as 100 either turned over to security forces or forced to surrender.
'When they said every family had to give one son, that is when I lost all my fear,' Krishna Shahi, 42, said. 'We told them, 'kill us but you can't take our sons'. We had nothing left to give them, we couldn't take it any longer.'
Rebels had told local people: 'Join the movement, leave the village, or live with broken limbs.'
Mrs Shahi, who emerged as a leader of the spontaneous uprising late last month, said: 'We have set an example for the people of Dailekh and for the rest of Nepal. Let's hope all the victims of Maoism hear our call.'
The Nepalese media applauded the women's bravery. 'Women did what the men did not have the courage to do,' said the Rajdhani daily.
'To rebel against the Maoists is not easy but such was the desperation of the mothers, who, though illiterate, rose up to protest. When politicians feared going to villages, teachers fled, schools closed down and men migrated, the women defied the gun.'
Maoist reprisals followed, in which at least three people died, including an eight-year-old boy. Around 1,500 refugees from the villages that rose up are now sheltering in the nearby town of Dailekh.
Prekesh Ojho, a human rights worker, said: 'There are children and women [sheltering in the town of Dailekh], it is a very critical situation. And the Maoists have cut the water pipe, so the situation is terrible.'
Unicef has expressed deep concern at the forced recruitment of children in Nepal. 'It is hard to think of a more terrifying ordeal for children,' said Dr Suomi Sakai, chief of Unicef in Nepal.
And it is not only boys who are recruited. A human rights worker in Humla district says 60 per cent of recruits there are girls.
