Maharashtra: Kolhapur village bans widowhood practices

Kolhapur (Maharashtra): Around 250 km from Pune, a village in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, has become a model village for the society after banning all the ill practices of widowhood.

Breaking social reforms, the Herwad village in Shirol Tahseel of Kolhapur district has eliminated all the ill practices of widowhood like wiping the kumkum (Sindoor) from the forehead, breaking the bangles, and breaking of mangalsutra etc.

This historic decision was taken in a Gram Panchayat meeting held on May 4. In the meeting, a resolution was moved to abolish all the practices which are being done after the death of the husband. After the meeting, the resolution was unanimously passed by members of Herwad Grampanchayat. In the resolution, it was stated, "In our society after the death of husband during last rites there is a practice of wiping of sindoor, breaking of bangles, removing of Bichiya, etc. Widows are also not allowed to attend any type of social and religious events in the village. "As per the law, every citizen has the equal right to live with freedom however these practice has taken away the rights of the women which is actually against the law and the constitution. Every widow of this village and the country has the right to live respectfully, therefore, all the practices related to widows are being demolished with immediate effect. Simultaneously, an awareness campaign should also be carried out in the village to make people aware of this resolution," said the resolution.

Sarpanch of Herwad village, Surgonda Patil said, "The purpose to bring this resolution was to empower widows of our villages, who were facing various issues because of these practices. During COVID time in our village alone, 12-13 men between the age group of 30-50 lost their life. The wives of these men had to go through all these ill practices. It was painful to see those women who were already in pain after losing their husbands. So we have together decided to end all these ill practices. For this, we also had the support of a social activist Pramod Zinjade who encouraged us to ban these practices for good."

"We have set an example before the country, to come forward and vanish these ill practices. We want to appeal to the government also to make a law against it. Meanwhile, our efforts are to make an awareness campaign about this resolution in the nearby villages and try to ban widowhood practices from its root," he added.
(ANI)