The ‘threat of Devadasi’ system in temples ; NHRC requests reports from Centre, 6 states

The NHRC has sent letters to the Centre and six states requesting a thorough action taken report on ‘the persistent scourge of Devadasi system in various temples, especially in southern region of India’.  The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) declared that it had taken spontaneous notice of a media report on the system. ‘ Various laws have been passed in the past to combat the Devadasi system’s misconduct, yet it is still in place… The practise of designating young females as Devadasis has also been harshly condemned by the top court’, it was stated.

According to the Supreme Court, the practise violates women’s rights to life, dignity, and equality and is an evil that is done to them by forcing them into prostitution and sexual exploitation. According to the media article that the NHRC noted, the majority of victims come from underprivileged households, as well as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The system is described in the study in the following way: ‘In the process of making a girl a Devadasi, she is married to the god of any temple and spends the rest of her life caring for the priest and the regular rituals of the temple’.

‘Sex abuse is a common occurrence for the majority of the victims of this malpractice. Men take advantage of them sexually, cause an abortion, and abandon them to their fate. The Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh governments, according to the panel, ruled the system unlawful in 1982 and 1988, respectively. However, it is said that around 70,000 women in Karnataka alone are living as Devadasis. There are 80,000 Devadasis in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, according to a panel chaired by Justice Raghunath Rao’, it stated.

The chief secretaries of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra, as well as the secretaries of the Union Ministries of Women and Child Development and Social Justice and Empowerment, have all received notifications from the NHRC. They have six weeks to deliver a comprehensive report. Authorities have urged the governments to provide information on the measures they have taken or plan to take to stop the Devadasi system and to help the women.