Driving away from domestic violence – Mili

Mili’s story reads like an inspirational story, drawing strength when there was none, hoping against hope and emerging as a “Survivor”. Mili was married off when was just 14 years old to a family in a village in Uttar Pradesh. However soon after her husband developed a relationship with his sister-in-law (younger brother’s wife). Nobody listened to her or believed her and told her that it was her paranoia. Things got harder for her, she became a victim of domestic violence and started remaining sick. Around that time, a son was born to her. After 7 days after the birth, she developed high fever. She was denied medical help like before. The fever affected her brain and she lost track of people and descended into a state of mental instability. Finally, her mother intervened and decided to bring her back. At first, her in-laws refused, saying this was an internal matter but later after the Panchayat was convened, it was decided to let Mili go back with her mother. It took many months of treatment for Mili to started recognizing faces and her condition improved.She also filed for a divorce but was unable to retain the custody for her son. After she got well, there were other financial problems in the family which forced to take up a job as a maid on recommendation of her neighbor. Her salary then was about Rs. 5000 Per month. Milicame to know about Azad from her friend, after she had been working as a maid for 2 years. She and her sister (who is also a driver at Sakha today) decided to join the Azad training program. Initially she faced resistance from her mother, however she was supported by her father and uncle and she managed to complete her training. Miligot her first job within one month of completing the training program with a salary of Rs. 7000 Per month. After the contract of her first job got over, she was placed with in a second job with a starting salary of 9500 Per month. After working in placement for close to 2 years, Mili decided to join commercial services. Before joining the job, she had financial problems, her dad had a rickshaw and met with an accident 3 years ago while taking her to doctor when a biker hit him. Today both Mili and her sister are drivers with Sakha and are the sole earning members of the family. When asked about her learnings, she says the best thing is that her life has got a meaning now. Mili participates in Azad events whenever she gets a chance and spreads the word about Azad among her friend circle. Other girls from her locality have joined Azad as a result. She remains positive despite her struggle in life and believes that in time, things will get better. Currently, the thought of remarriage is far from her mind. She is happy at where she is now and hopes to realize her dream of having her house soon.