By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Nov. 6: At least eight persons were killed and over 1,000 were victimised in last three months in the incidents relating to the evil social practices.
A quarterly report from July 1-September 30 this year of Soch Nepal showed a total of 1,033 people were victimised while eight were killed due to the evil practices prevalent in the Nepali society.
Of the total people killed, majority were women, the report stated. Of the total victims, majority were women and persons from the Dalit community, who are considered untouchable in the society.
The victims of social ill practices have faced both mental and physical violence, the report stated. The report was based on the news reports published in different national dailies of Nepal.
As stated in the report, a total of 502 incidents of Haliya (bonded labour) practice, 316 incidents of caste-based discrimination, 171 cases of child marriage and 13 incidents of polygamy were recorded during the period.
Likewise, 15 incidents of mismatched marriage, four incidents of dowry practice, two cases of Chhaupadi, three counts of Deuki, two incidents of gender discrimination and two cases of witchery were reported.
The report further stated that majority of the incidents related to such practices were from the Sudur Paschim State while the lowest incidents were recorded from the State 5. The government of Nepal on 6th September, 2008 abolished the Haliya system (bonded labour) from the country. However, the system is still in practice in some parts of Sudur Paschim State.
Similarly, the government and non-government organisations have been making a constant effort to eradicate child marriage from the country. But Nepal still has the third highest rate of child marriage in South Asia. In the three months of the period, 171 cases of child marriage were reported. This has raised a question over the government’s target to eradicate child marriage by 2030, said experts.
An international study shows that 37 per cent of girls in Nepal marry before the age of 18 and 10 per cent are still married by the age of 15.
Soch Nepal has urged the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen to initiate an effective campaign to fight against such evil social practices.
Although the country has, of late, made a significant social transformation, the remnants of such superstitious and ill practices are still prevalent, said Gauri Pradhan.
“Superstition and illiteracy feed such evils and changing one’s superstitious beliefs is always difficult because such beliefs are deeply rooted in the people’s mind,” he added.
Regressive practices such as child marriage and others continue to be practiced in society despite the government passing laws to control them and striving to generate awareness against such practices, he said.
Therefore, it’s a high time that the government should make the law enforcement effective, said Pradhan adding that the local government could play a crucial role to investigate, monitor and provide justice to the victims.
Similarly, the civil society should also support the local bodies to generate awareness against all evil practices at different levels.