The 2013 Kedarnath floods led to the deaths of 54 men in Deoli, leaving 32 women widowed | Photo Credit: TOI Archives

Dehradun: The village of Deoli-Bhangiram in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, has been termed the "village of widows" following the deaths of 54 men in the Kedarnath deluge of 2013, of which 32 were married.

Now, four years later, the widows of these men would like to re-marry again but are afraid of voicing their opinions for fear of being criticised and subsequently ostracised by the villagers, most of whom adhere to stringent social laws.

Rachna Shukla, 28, who is currently pursuing higher education in Dehradun, has reconciled herself to leading a solitary life and is one of the few widows to have moved out of the village.

"The social organisations which are helping widows in my village are doing praiseworthy work in bringing our lives back on track. But more than financial aid, what we require is urgent intervention to change the mindsets of villagers who are against widows remarrying," Shukla told TOI.

"I believe that those who don't have kids with previous husbands should be allowed to get married. The ones who have children often don't prefer remarriage themselves, but seeing the young girls who have been left without a husband at a tender age, with their whole lives before them, it seems cruel to deny them the opportunity to start life afresh," said Rajni Devi, 31, who has two children aged eight and 11.

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Ved Prakash, the village pradhan states that the "high caste lineage" of the widows (most of the families in Deori are Brahmin) as the main reason why re-marriage is a taboo topic.

"There has not been even a single incident in our area of a widow getting remarried. Remarrying is not a part of our culture or tradition. We have followed this custom for many centuries. The girl is either asked to stay in her maternal home or with in-laws, whatever is her preference," he told TOI.

Some women stated that they couldn't even think of broaching the topic with their family members as they are repeatedly told to accept their widowhood like the older women of the village. Were these women to argue back or add another perspective, they would be accused of breaking centuries-old tradition.

"It is truly a sad state of affairs that in today's day and age, these women have been kept shackled by such primitive beliefs. It is the responsibility of all the social organisations as well as the state government to intervene in the matter and help them get rehabilitated not just financially but in their personal lives too. For this, the mindset of villagers needs to be challenged and changed," said Sushila Baluni, a Dehradun-based social activist.

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