Archana – A Case Study from Delhi Slum
Archana (name changed) is an 18 year old girl in Shri Ram J. J. Camp (slum cluster), Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. She ran away from her house to marry boy of her own choice. But the guy she trusted left her behind and she was deserted at an isolated place. Another boy named Ali came to her rescue and the girl went with him and both got married.
One day during our regular community visits, we met Archana’s mother and she said that she does not want to send her daughter back to her in-laws house. She claimed that Archana’s husband beats her. Archana’s mother is poor and with great difficulty she bought her back to Camp. Archana complained against her in-laws and not her husband. They were called to our Centre for counselling on December 7, 2007. Archana said that she was happy with her husband.
After few days on December 17, 2007, Archana’s sister Neelam came to the Centre. She reported that Archana’s husband had beaten her up in a drunken state. However, Archana’s behaviour was suspicious and whenever we used to go to her house, she refused to let us meet her husband. Archana now wanted to go home as they had reached a compromise.
On March 10, 2008 again during our regular community households visits, Archana’s mother told us that her daughter was not happy. Swabhiman Project Coordinator and Community Educators went to her house. There was telephonic interaction with her as well as her husband. Surprisingly, Archana’s husband narrated a very different story. He said Archana’s mother is responsible for whatever was happening. He further said that they are happy with each other. Both were counselled on phone by Project Coordinator.
