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In Pictures: The ‘rat eaters’ of India

Musahar community in Bihar’s Darbhanga district still live in extreme poverty and face social stigma.

Men, women and children of Musahar community catch small fish and snails in a wetland near their village.
By Showkat Shafi
Published On 1 May 2014

Darbhanga, Bihar – Far away from the high-decibel political campaigns in India’s parliamentary elections, a group of semi-naked children frantically search for something to eat in the marshland of their village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

These children belong to the Musahar community (“Musahar” meaning “rat eaters” in Bhojpuri), a socially marginalised community placed at the bottom rung of India’s hierarchical caste system.

About 250 families from the community have been living in Kubaul village in Darbhanga district for the past 150 years.

“Earlier our meals were dependant on the availability of rats and grains that we would procure from the rat holes,” Malhu Sada, 74, a member of the community, told Al Jazeera. “However, things are changing for some families as their children have gone to different states to work. We now catch rats mostly during the harvesting season.”

The state government has accorded them Maha Dalit status, which makes them eligible for various government schemes that have failed to lift the community out of poverty and backwardness.

Narayan Ji Choudhary, founder of Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad (MGVP), an NGO that works for the welfare of the community, said: “The condition of Musahars is the worst of the lot. Some of the lower caste communities work as bamboo artisans, cobblers or cleaners, but Musahars are unskilled labourers. This is the reason that they are the lowest rung in the caste hierarchy even in the scheduled castes.”

Residents of Kubaul village have decided to boycott the current elections for being discriminated against.

“All the neighbouring villages have electricity with all the basic amenities, but we still live in such inhuman conditions. There aren’t any schools and the nearest school is 2km away,” Kusum Lal, 72, said.

“Children have to cross a river to reach school and the river is full throughout the season. During the rainy season, our village gets cut off from everything as we don’t even have a road to reach our village. Our demand is ‘road nahi, toh vote nahi’ (No road, no vote),” he added.

The community found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are landless and don’t have their own livestock. While some manage to buy food, most still have to procure food every day, which involves scrounging whatever they can such as small fish, snails and even cockroaches.

During the rice harvesting season, members of the community trap rats from the fields. Rats form a staple diet for them during this time. Rest of the year their food consists of fish, snails and cockroaches.
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The nearest public health centre is 7km away from the village. "People suffer from Asthma, Tuberculosis, and Kala Azar (black fever). In the last five years, more than 10 members of this community have died from kala azar. The infant mortality rate is very high, with more than 60 percent of new mothers losing their children within the first month of their birth," says Narayan Ji Choudhary.
Bhoka Sada, 36, a Musahar poses for a picture along with his family members. The term "Musahar" comes from the word "moos" which in the local language means rat. The traditional occupation of the members of this community was that of rat catchers
A woman from the community shows the catch of the day that consists of snails and fish.
The community lives in acute poverty and most of the children here do not wear clothes due to lack of money. Rat catching as a tradition is slowly vanishing and members of the community has started working as labourers.
Mohan Sada, 20, shows his voter ID card. He was excited to vote in the parliamentary elections, but since his village is boycotting the elections, he will not vote. The village has no electricity or roads. Sada says boycotting elections will force politicians to develop the basic infrastructure in the village.
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Musahars are bracketed under Scheduled Castes (the official name given to the lowest caste - the former untouchables) and the community suffers from acute poverty and face the social stigma for being rat catchers and eaters.
The community is not only economically marginalised but also their villages lack the basic amenities of water, roads and electricity.
Kusum Lal, 72, is unhappy with the treatment that has always been meted out to his community. He says that no politician has ever visited their village. Only party workers come and make promises during the campaigning and then they vanish for five years. He says they will not vote until the condition of their community becomes better.
Children look out of the window of their house. They prefer to stay at home than going to school because of discrimination.
Runa Devi, 32, shows her voter ID card. Though she has voted before, this year she will go with the villagers’ decision to boycott the polls.
Malhu Sada, 74, poses for a picture along with his wife Dutri Devi, 70. He says that their lifestyle has changed in the past 20 years as their children have started going to other states such as Punjab to work as labourers in agricultural farms.
Acute poverty is visible everywhere. The economic condition might be changing but that is negligible. "It will take another 20 years for their condition to change and for them to reach the level of lower middle class," says MB Verma, former scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation.