SHILLONG: Following media reports of village authorities of Warmawsaw in Ri Bhoi burning down the house of a woman recently, the women’s commission has swung into action. The chairperson of Meghalaya State Commission for Women, Theilin Phanbuh said on Saturday that based on media reports, a threemember team of the commission visited the area. The woman was harassed for re-marrying a person without the knowledge of the village authorities. “When the members along with the police reached the area, they came to know that the woman was shifted to Nongpoh”, Phanbuh said.
The members met the headman and other members of the village, who had given their own reasons for taking action against the woman. However, the women’s commission team asked them not to resort to moral policing. Later, the commission members went to the residence of the victim and held meeting with the residents at the community hall.
‘Though the village authorities denied their role in burning the house of the women, we have taken up the matter seriously”, Phanbuh said. According to Phanbuh, there will be another round of meeting between the affected and the accused parties. Earlier, media reports had said that besides burning the house of the woman, her belongings were also thrown into the river and some at the Village Dorbar Hall.
The woman, a widow and mother of four was remarried to a man who was separated from his wife for 5 years which was not approved by the village authorities. The woman was summoned by the village heads and was asked to pay a fine of Rs 32, 000 if she wants to stay with the man she remarried. Since the woman could not pay the fine, the villagers on April 26, set her house on fire while she went to Nongpoh to visit her daughter. Later, with the help of CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing, the woman decided to file an FIR with the police.