Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-06
CHILD WIDOWS IN INDIA.
Two Millions of W omen Condemned to
Penance.
From the London Times.

From the Lortdon Times.
The recent telegra m announcing Lore Dui-
ferin's decision regarding Hindoo widow mar
riages receives emphasis from the outbursts OF
fanatical hostility which are agItatlng North
ern India.
The decision arrived at is characteristic
alike of the statesman who now presldes over
India and of the new point of view from which
the Indian government regards questions OF
internal reform LORD Dunerln expresses
genuine sympathy for the party OF process
but he does not allow his sympathy to pima
him to the grave political dlncuItles OF tue
case.
There are over q, COO, 900 of widows in India,
and 1000, COO OF them belong to castes VINO
practice child marriage and insist on the cell
bacy of their widows. These customs are not
enforced with equal rigor in all parts OF lnula,
nor among all the castles wis follow them.
But, broadly speaking. there are about !, oO0,-
0o0 Indian women OF good family who are con-
demned to life of penance or of shame.
This however, is very mild statement OF
the case. For 1t must be remembered mat
the cruelty of enforced wldOwhOod in india
is aggravated by the circumstance that vast
number of widows have only been wives In
name. In Bengal 27l Hindoo girls out OF
every LOCO between the ages of and 10 are
married, and no fewer than $50 are returned
married between the ages OF 10 and IT,.
This applies to the general Hindoo popula-
ton. But among the higher castles, who en-
force the celibacy of their widows, the pro-
uortion is much higher. Practically every
Hlndoo girl of good caste Is either wlfe or
widow before she reaches the age of IA. In
thousands. indeed in hundreds of thousands,
OF cases the child has never known what 1t Is
to be a wife The most orthodox idea Is that
a girl should be given in marriage before the
sense Of natural modesty arises. Frr canoni-
cal purposa IS this was taken to be her eighth
year. The marriage is not contaminated till
she reached the age of about y; aud mean
while, if he husband dies, she Is condemned
to a life of Cellbacy.
1t is essential for the honor of a Hindoo
family Of good caste that it should contain no
unmarried daughter Of mature years. The
existence of such a daIghtc or is not only
social disgrace, but religious crime When,
therefore. q female infant is born the first
idea in her fathers nina is not one OF pleas
ure nor, perhaps regret, but simply how to
find husband for her. 1t Is not necessary
that she should become a wife in our sense of
the word. it suf1iccs that she should be given
in marriage and 20 through the ceremony of
the Seven Steps, which completes the relg
lous rite.
Aged Brahmans of good family still go
about the country marrying for pecuniary
consideration female infants, whom they
sometimes never see again. Within the men,
DRY OF men @till living this abomnable prac-
tice was fcurishng trade. Kuhn Brah-
man, perhaps white haired, half blind and
decreplt, went the round of his beat each
spring, going through the ceremony of mar
rage with such female infants as were offered
| and pocketlng MS fee, and perhaps never re-
| turned to the child's house.
SO long as he lived she could marry no other
man; wnen he died she became a widow for
! life. The Hndoo child widow is looked upon
| as thing apart and accursed, bearing the
| penalty in this world for sins which she has
! committed in past existence. Her hair is
cut short or her head is shaved altogether /;
| she exchanges her pretty childish clothes for
! the widows coarse and often squalid gar
| ment; she is forbidden to take part in any viii
| lage festival or family gathering; the very
| sight of her is regarded as an Ill omen. Her
| natural Womans instincts are starved into
! inanition by constant fasts, sometimes pro-
! longed to y hours. Amid the genial and
brightly colOred life of the Hindoo family she
! fits about disarrayed silent. slammed, disfg
| ured-ln some parts of India a hideously bald
| object orOldden all joy and all hope.