Widows sold as bonded labourers in a tribal community

In a place 100 km from Bangalore widows are treated like cattle, are ‘bought and sold’ in Handi Korachas community.

Selling widows is a routine custom of the pig-rearing Kunchalu Koracha or Handi Korachas. The centuries-old ‘Ruka’ tradition is a norm with the community that lives in hamlets along the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border.

Widowed women  are used as bonded labourers to rear pigs or make brooms by their new owners. They run errands and do menial household work.