Navigating Violence, Vulnerability and Social Injustice: The Case of Women in Dhuku Practice, Jharkhand

This paper intends to initiate a discussion on the intersectional nature of vulnerability of women in dhuku practice, who in many cases have been ostracized for cohabitating under dhuku. It is imperative to enquire how their experience of subjugation, social exclusion and violence in both covert and overt forms, perhaps remain symbolic or subsumed in the banality of everyday life. Dhuku is a cohabitation practice among the Munda and Oraon tribes in Jharkhand, where young cohabiters begin to live together outside any official conjugal arrangement. More precisely, it is the woman in dhuku who is said to intrude in her partners's house to cohabit together. Historically and as per the field evidence, dhuku is increasingly practiced by the OBC community and subjected to absolute ignominy among the Hindu-dominated villages. This study will explore various facets of this practice with a standpoint to understand the vulnerable nature of women in dhuku practice. Dhuku is often seen as a mark of shame for the women who practice it, and they are labeled as ‘Dhukua’. Since dhuku lacks any legal and social recognition in non-tribal communities, it puts women in an extremely vulnerable position. The instances of social exclusion remain blatant face of discrimination that goes unacknowledged. A significant objective here is to understand their experiences of social exclusion, marginality, and violence by placing them within feminist epistemology. The study will end by showing how understanding the issue in a positive way can help foregrounding the overlooked social injustices faced by Dhuku women.