Most inmates in shelter homes in Kerala are tribal

They consist of less than two per cent of the total population of Kerala (1.09), but they consist of more than 40 per cent of the inmates of the women shelter homes in the state, where victims of sexual abuse are housed.

Drugs, alcohol and intrusion by the so-called ‘modern men’ are said to be the cause of the high number of tribal inmates in the shelter homes.

“The condition is worse in the districts of Wayanad, Idukki and Palakkad, which have tribal presence. They are generally molest-

WOMEN SHELTER homes in the state are already struggling for survival after the Social Justice Department stopped the funds for them from December onwards

ed by the relatives, who live outside their territory and visit the tribal colonies often.

“In many cases, these minor girls are married by men of their tribe as part of the custom and the husbands land in jail,” said Mahila Samakhya Society (MSS) state project coordinator P.E. Usha.

The MSS runs eight women shelters out of the total 11 in the state. There are three in Thiruvananthapuram and one each in Malappuram, Wayanad, Kasargod, Idukki, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Thrissur. The home in Kozhikode is under Anweshi and the one in Ernakulam is under Cultural Academy for peace. “We have informed the National Child Rights commission about the strange situation in Kerala, where the status of tribal girls have not improved,” says Usha.

From April onward, the Ministry of HRD will stop giving aid to the MSS.