A 32-year-old woman in India was imprisoned in 1994. She was released on bail, but could not come up with the $180 she needed, so she stayed in jail. She gave birth to a son, who grew up in foster homes and orphanages. Eventually he got a job as a garment worker and saved the money to get his mother out of jail. She is now 50 years old, he is 19.
This is the state of affairs and human rights in a country that holds almost one fifth of the world’s population and aspires to be an economic superpower.
Here is a BBC News article with more information and a video of mother and son.
The treatment of widows in India is appalling. They are considered unlucky and are ostracized and cast out of their homes, often penniless. Many Indians believe that the woman’s bad karma caused her husband’s death. I came across an Indian fairy tale recently about an evil stepmother, not unlike stories in many cultures. However, in THIS story, it was emphasized that the woman had been a widow before marrying the father. The plight of widows is a dirty little secret that the Indian government would like to keep from the outside world. The White Rainbow Project is an organization that is shedding light on this atrocity. Check it out at http://www.whiterainbowproject.org/.