Unwed mothers lead a miserable life

JAMSHEDPUR: A 40- year- old woman Jyoti (name changed) has six children out of wed lock.

Her partner left her following the birth of children and never returned.She works at a construction site to meet both ends.

However, Jyoti is not alone, as there are over 98 unwed mothers who leading a miserable life in 20 slum areas on the banks of the Subarnerakha in Jamshedpur, according to a recent survey by Adarsh Seva Sansthan (ASS).

When a girl attains the age of 16 years, she begins to live with her chosen partner but once she becomes mother, she is left to fend for herself, the survey says.

The rooms they live in are dingy and do not have any toilet, so they defecate in open, the survey says.

Their children stop going to school because of lack of money.

If their mothers do not go to their place of work, they do not get food.The children of the unwed mothers, too, follow the path of their mothers when they attain the age of 14/16 years.

Founder of ASS, Prabha Jaiswal told HT, “These young boys and girls from remote villages to towns for jobs. They start living together at the age of 14/16 and girls become pregnant. Though the boys assure the girls of marrying them, they leave the girls along the child.”

Project coordinator in ASS, Usha Mahato said, “We have found that a man has married a girl of his own caste after leaving his girlfriend. Teenage girls of these areas still elope with their boyfriends. We can’t force the concerning boy’s families to marry girls who underage.”