Case Number: 284

Details of beneficiary:

History and context of the situation:

Ms. C.D. is a 28 years old female who is living separately with her two children, a son of 13 years old and a daughter of 12 years old at Budhhanagar, Kathmandu. She originally belongs to Salyan. It has been three years that she is staying in Kathmandu.   She was married at the age of 14. She had a good relationship with her husband for 4 years of her married life. Later, there had been ups and downs in their relationships. For four years of marriage, she stayed along with her in laws and her children were sent to Kathmandu for their studies. After first year of marriage, her husband moved to Surkhet for his further studies. From there he moved towards Kathmandu to find jobs. He used to visit her occasionally. After her second child, her husband flied towards Saudi to work. Since then, her elder sister in law started misbehaving her using filthy words, she even used to abuse her physically and torture her mentally. Three years back when she started staying in Kathmandu, her elder sister in law still continued to abuse her without any reason.

Ms. C.D. had worked as a waitress in one of the Dohori Saanjh of Kathmandu. At Biswas Nepal, she had arrived with fresh physical injuries resulted by the abuse done by her husband’s elder sister.

History of current problem:

The total duration of her problem was 10 years. According to the client, she was raped 14 years back in a jungle during Maoist attack period. And she was compelled to marry with the perpetrator through mediation. The perpetrator was in his married life prior to getting married with her. However, after marriage, her relation with her husband (perpetrator) was good for two years. Soon, his first wife left him and married with another man. After two years, when her husband moved to Surkhet for his further studies, she could not contact him. Her husband however used to visit her occasionally. Two years later she had her second child. Her husband planned to move towards Kathmandu to find job. Her children were staying in Kathmandu with her eldest sister in law who was married. Her in laws were very supportive towards her husband. Later her husband travelled towards Saudi to work. One day the company where her husband used to work was destroyed by fire, where he met an accidental injury. Steel had to be placed on his legs. Then he came back to Nepal. At that time the client was at Salyan. She used to communicate him by phone. According to the client, she used to come to Kathmandu frequently to see her husband but she never got to meet her. Her husband used to make several excuses to not to meet her. Many of the times he used to tell her that he was working at another district.

In the meantime, she got information about her husband by her known to. She was told that her husband has married another woman and has a daughter of 1 year old. That literally broke her. But she tried to inquire the truth. She used to chat with her husband on social media, Facebook; he blocked her from his group. Later she started searching the second women of her husband on Facebook. One day, she found the second women on Facebook. The women had a profile picture along with the client’s husband and a baby in their hand. Somehow, she succeeded to find the truth. When asked with her husband, he used to say that the lady was simply his friend. Later he said, he had taken lots of financial loan from that lady so she is blackmailing him in that way. Her husband used to manipulate his own statements.

According to the client, in the beginning when she inquired with her in laws about her husband, they used to scold her instead using filthy languages. Her elder sister had abused her physically for five times.

Later when the client came to know the truth, she told to her in laws and asked the reason for lying to her. But all of her in laws; her father in law, mother in law and elder sister in law started beating her and grabbing her hair. She was thrown on the ground and hit by their legs. They grabbed her hair so forcefully that all her hairs were fallen. The same day, when that incident happened, she approached to Biswas Nepal for help through one of the staffs of the organization.

Project Initiative/ Intervention:

The beneficiary was referred for psychosocial counseling by a field staff. The counseling session provided her an open space to share her issues. She was given around six rounds of counseling sessions within which, she was given basic emotional support and was normalized. Since the client had arrived with physical injuries and mental trauma, the first initiation was providing her basic emotional support. In meantime, a good rapport was built up with the client. She was assured about the confidentiality. She was explained about the role of counselor, what a counselor does and does not do. She was explained about counseling, its purpose and ethics. She was given an open space to express her emotions. She was told about the limitations of counseling and about the time frame for each session. Considering her injuries and health, she was immediately sent to hospital for   treatment with one of the staff of organization. Throughout the follow up sessions, her health status was reviewed. Likewise, her needs, strengths and supportive circles were assessed and different relaxation exercises were given such as deep breathing, mindfulness, humming and guided imaginary exercise. She was given a psycho-education on “Stress and Stress Management”. She was asked to decide what to do with her case. She expressed her interest to file a case against the perpetrators. Soon, she was referred to women’s cell along with one of the outreach staff of Biswas Nepal to file case against the perpetrators. On another follow up, an update about her previous referral to women’s cell was taken. She was given brief information about legal issues and procedures. She was given a task of setting goals of her life and her future planning. She was given information about how she can step forward on her legal case. Assignment under cognitive behavior therapy was given and was reviewed on next follow up session. Her strengths were analyzed and strengthened. She was given an Art Therapy through which she could express her emotions. She was set free to share how she would like to move forward with her case and what support she wants from the organization for her case. An update of her security and legal matters were taken. She was given psycho education on “Problem Solving and Coping Mechanisms” and focused on relapse prevention. She was set free to share how she felt throughout all sessions as well as asked if she needs further counseling. Analyzing the changes she brought in herself and observing her betterment, the session was terminated.

Successful Outcomes/ Results:

The client was open right at the first session as she was assured about the confidentiality maintenance. She felt free to share her problems, her past history, her needs and expectations. She was able to fight for her legal matters actively and independently. She came up being a stronger person after the session.