By Ellerine Diengdoh
Disclaimer: Look, before you crack your knuckles to write me a lengthy, eloquent letter on how you once helped an old lady cross the street, let’s be clear: I’m not talking about every single man. I know plenty of men who are absolute gems. Truly. But facts are facts, and the crime statistics are horrifying. They tell us that the person committing violent crimes against women and children is almost always a “Dude”. So, if you happen to be one of the “Good Ones”, please refrain from demanding a trophy for clearing the absolute lowest bar of human decency. Lower your hand please, we’re trying to count the victims.
In this part of the world, we love to tell ourselves a comforting bedtime story. It goes something like this: ” Once upon a time, in a beautiful land of mist and rain, there lived women who were worshipped, and everyone lived happily ever after.” It is a lovely story, isn’t it? Right up there with, “I’ll start the diet on Monday,” or “I’m just five minutes away”. But if you actually look at the local news, you realise that women here suffer the same fate as women everywhere else….we just have better weather and scenery to look at while we look the other way.
Don’t believe me? Let’s read the papers together. You don’t have to look far back, in fact just a few days ago, on January 31st, 2026, three people were held in Ri Bhoi in an alleged case of incest. In the land where women are supposedly “worshipped”, the danger isn’t always a stranger in a dark road; sometimes it’s the brothers you share a dinner table with.” The Horror! The Horror!”
Remember the town of Mairang, the place where hundreds of people had to rally in July 2025. They weren’t out there for a football match, they were rallying to condemn the murder of a young woman whose throat was slit in broad daylight by a “scorned” boyfriend. It’s a bit of a tragedy when you need a megaphone and a mob just to convince society that killing women is, strictly speaking, bad manners.
If that doesn’t curdle your tea, consider the crime that shook us all, the death of a four-year-old girl and the rape and murder of a 13-year-old last year. Two girls. Gone. In a single month.
I bring all this up because, despite the bodies piling up like firewood, the “solution” offered by society is not “stop killing people”, but rather, “fix your wardrobe!” It is why I was so struck by that recent educational video, “Wat Riam Sexy Ioh Nga Thombor” ( ST: 24th Jan 2026, “Don’t dress sexily, or I will assault you”, Ibalarishisha Syiem). I watched it, read the comments, and for the first time in my life, my mouth actually stopped working. For those who know me, it is a biological impossibility, like a dog meowing or a man asking for directions.
To begin, I will say that I appreciate a video with a clear title, it saves time. It is like a movie called “The Boat Sinks”…you know exactly what you’re getting. The video frames assault as a kind of structural support beam for society….a way to ensure women don’t get ideas above their station, like “walking”, ” talking” or “having skin”. It uses this bizarre biological metaphor involving snack food: women are “Candy”. If the candy is wrapped in plastic, it’s safe; but if it’s unwrapped….revealing the scandalous existence of a kneebone….then the men (the “Ants”) will attack.
The takeaway here is that men aren’t human beings with free will; they’re mindless insects driven by a high-fructose urge they can’t control. Apparently, if a man sees a patch of skin, he suffers a complete neurological collapse and the laws of nature take over to compel him to commit a felony.
Now, if this is true, we have a massive problem. We certainly shouldn’t let men be in charge or hold jobs that require them to be around exposed female epidermis. Imagine if a surgeon saw a nurse’s collarbone, went into a sugar trance, and accidentally removed the patient’s liver. God save us all!
Yet, despite this fatal medical diagnosis that paints men as unstable insects, they’re somehow still the ones occupying the high chairs and signing the cheques. It’s terribly confusing. The brochures tell us that in Meghalaya, women “rule the roost”. We have this beautiful system called “Matriliny”….a delightful eye-catching tourism slogan suggesting women are protected and worshipped.
But if you squint, you see that we get the surname (which is worth nothing) and the children (who are very expensive), and if you’re a “rich” Khatduh , you inherit the property, but you also inherit the unpaid emotional and physical labour of the entire clan: the aging parents, the divorced uncles, the unmarried aunts, and the stray cats. If you’re a “poor” Khatduh however, the system is even more efficient: you get all that crushing responsibility, just without the actual real estate to house it in.
Essentially, women get the burden of care, and men get the “unimportant” bits, like decision-making and the keys to the kingdom. It seems fair, if you don’t think about it at all.
To give you an example: men run the Dorbar Shnongs and Dorbar Himas….traditional councils where they gather to shout about important “man things” like garbage trucks and leaking pipes. Women are stopped at the door. Why? Because of a terrifying ancient saying which goes: “Haba kynih ka’iar kynthei, wai ka pyrthei.” Translated: “When the hen crows, the world ends.”
Now, I’m no zoologist, but I’ve spent time around poultry. Usually, when a hen makes a noise, it’s because she’s just produced an egg, not summoning the end of times. Yet, this poultry based superstition is “probably” why women aren’t trusted with microphones or policy.
Mind you, while we aren’t trusted with power, we are generously gifted the blame. Look at the hysteria over “Influx”. If a woman marries an outsider, she’s accused of betraying her bloodline. But if a male “Protector” imports an army of migrant workers to dig holes, poison the water table, and sell the state piece by piece, he is celebrated as a savvy businessman. So, loving the wrong person is treason, but selling your homeland for more SUVs is just “industry”.
In a normal patriarchy, men smash things because they think they’re Gods. In Meghalaya, men smash things because they think they’re sad, “emasculated” victims. So it doesn’t really matter whether you set the Male Power Dial to “Tyrant” or “Victim”, the result is the same: women get hurt. It’s like a blender with only one speed….”Shred”. It doesn’t matter if you push the button for ‘Power’ or ‘Pity,’ you’re still going to lose a finger.
So, I have a proposal. We generally require licences for things that are dangerous….guns, cars, industrial chemicals. Since men are now admitting, via their candy metaphors, that they are volatile biological weapons who go off without warning, let’s treat masculinity like a hazardous material.
Every man should pass a safety inspection before entering a building. If you can’t prove your brakes work the moment a woman appears in your line of sight, you’re headed straight for Secondary Screening. You’ll be led to a small, brightly lit room where a woman named Janet…who has seen it all and is deeply unimpressed by your “biological urges”…will examine every “joke” you’ve ever shared in the group chat and every time you miraculously “didn’t hear” a woman say no. You will not get to leave until Janet is satisfied that your conscience has been patched and you’re no longer a walking liability to the public.
But what do I know, I’m just a woman. My opinion might trigger the end of the world. Although, looking at the crime stats, the sold-off land, and the bodies piling up, I have to ask… are you sure the hen hasn’t already crowed?
