Maharashtra | South Kolhapur Gram Panchayats To Pass Resolutions Banning 'Widow Rituals' On June 6, Says Cong MLA

This move to ban such 'widow rituals' was first made in Herwad village in Shirol tehsil Kolhapur.

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New Delhi: All 34 gram panchayats in South Kolhapur Assembly constituency in Maharashtra will pass resolutions to do away with the ‘widow rituals’ on June 6, Congress MLA Rituraj Patil said on Friday. These customary rituals include women forcibly wiping off their vermilion and breaking bangles after the demise of their husband.

According to a report by news agency PTI, it was on June 6 that legendary warrior king Shivaji was coronated as 'Chhatrapati' and this day is marked with fervour as 'Shiv Rajyabhishek Din'.

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In a statement issued by the administration, the Congress MLA said that he had been meeting the sarpanchs, deputy sarpanchs, gramsevaks of these 34 South Kolhapur villages over the last two weeks on the issue.

It is to be noted that this move to ban such 'widow rituals' was first made in Herwad village in Shirol tehsil Kolhapur. This village had passed a resolution on May 4 that disallowed wiping off vermillion from the forehead of the widow, removing her 'mangalsutra' (nuptial necklace) and other jewellery, and breaking her bangles.

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As per the PTI report, Congress MLA Patil said that he has convinced all the gram panchayats in South Kolhapur Assembly constituency to follow the Herwad model and pass such a resolution against widow rituals.

Notably, the Maharashtra government had recently advised the panchayats of 28,000 villages to pass such resolutions and implement the changes.