Author(s): Mamata Ansary

Abstract: Baby Kamble’s autobiographical Dalit text Our Wretched Lives (originally Jina Amucha) documents agonizing realities, caste oppression, and systematic cruelty faced by women within the Dalit community particulary focusing on the domestic violence young bride endured both in private and public places. This paper focuses on how mother-in-law weaponizes patriarchal norms against newly married women . Baby Kamble’s narrative shows the home as a micro-prison where the oppressed woman becomes the oppressor of an even more vulnerable woman. This paper explores through Kamble’s narrative how older women internalize oppression, transforming themselves into enforcers of patriarchal system.

Keywords: domestic violence, hawkish gaze, internalized oppression, lateral violence micro-prison, patriarchy

Article Info: Received: 30 Sep 2026; Received in revised form: 25 Oct 2026; Accepted: 01 Nov 2026; Available online: 07 Nov 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.116.4