Victim of spousal abuse, Bharatpur woman sets up own sewing centre
What might be a tragedy for others may be a challenge for few, shows a Bharatpur woman. Refused to be cowered by the abuses of an alcoholic husband, 40-year-old Suman Singh proves the old adage ‘if there is a will, there is a way’.
A victim of domestic violence, Suman walked out of her painful marriage in 2001 with her two children, a two-year-old and a sixmonth-old and 17 years later, not only has she been able to carve a niche for herself, but also provide employment to 35 women in her neighbourhood.
Suman Singh of Korer village, Bharatpur, was married in May 1995. But five years later, unable to bear her husband’s ill-treatment, she walked out of his house. “I didn’t want my children to grow up in such an environment so I returned to my parents’ house and began stitching clothes to earn a living,” she said.
This year in May, she constructed a hall where 35 women work on sewing machines to complete orders from companies such as Big Bazaar and Fabindia. She earns around ~50,000 a month and pays her employees in the range of ~12,000 to 15,000.
One of her employees, Kamlesh Devi, (36), works at Suman’s sewing centre with her husband Harpal Koli and earns ~1,000 per day. Earlier, Kamlesh Devi used to be an NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that guarantees 100 days of work) labourer.
After returning to her parents’ house, Suman sought loan from district industries office but her application was rejected. In 2013, Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation set up a sewing machine centre in her village and she was appointed a trainer for a meagre salary of ~4,000 a month.
Later, she got a loan of ~1.5 lakh from the foundation for her own centre. Until last year, she had four machines but now she has grown her business after the new hall came up. “I want to help women from my neighbourhood become independent,” Suman said. “I train poor women who want to support their families and help provide them employment.” Some of the women working at her centre come from Uttar Pradesh. Suman’s son, Vishal Singh, (19), is pursuing Bachelor of Science from Maharani Shri Jaya College and preparing for defence service exam and her daughter, Kirty Kumari, (17), passed Class 12 this year.
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