According to Hindu tradition, the widow lived a pariah and does not deserve respect anymore.
At the age of 18 years old, she told her life story with tears, suffered all kinds of shame and abuse being raped by members of her husband’s family. Now at the age of 28, she prefers to remain silent because of fear of bad reputation and threats.
The following five Indian states have the largest widow percentage: Atatra Pradesh about 2.5 million, Andra and Telanga 2.3 million, Tamil Nadu 2.2 million, Maharashtra 2 million, West Bengal 1.9 million.
Official reports and data also show the following facts about the age of widows (10 to 19 years, 0.45%, 20 to 39 years, 9%, 40 to 59 years, 32%, 60 years and over, 58%).
Rituals and Beliefs
In ancient times, there was a social-religious tradition called “Sti”, which required the widow to burn herself with the body of her husband.
But a prominent social reformer, Raja Ram Mohan, resisted this unfair tradition of reform efforts until the British government came up with a new law prohibiting the burning of widows with her deceased husband in 1828.
This tradition has come to an end, but even in our new age, the pain has not ended. A report published by the Women’s Media Center under the title “The Tragedy of Permanently Indigenous Widows” reveals the painful truth.
Some managers of these shelters offer widows in the sex trade for money, the report said. This means that, even where widows need to be protected and safe, risks are increased because they are vulnerable to multiple forms of exploitation and the widow age is small.
The belief that the widows are not clean, prohibits abuse of the widow
The seizure of the legacy of the widow, along with her money deprives her of trusting these funds for the purposes of investing and working honestly, and therefore she finds herself engaged in degrading actions. Society’s view of widow and contempt compels her to live in shame by forbidding her to remarry.
New Opportunities
There is still some hope, and with all this data, the new generation has an opening and possibility to improve the situation of the widows, because it has begun to realize the magnitude of the problem and the agony.
These efforts include the establishment of various projects, including the granting of financial grants for up to fourth months, with food supplied to the widows deposited to the bank account each month, including 20 kg of wheat and 15 kg of rice, sugar and others.
With all this financial aid, the government opened incense and perfume production projects from the flowers to the temples, where these widows were used.
