Chinnaovulapuram, Theni: It’s village of widows. Nestled among grape gardens near Theni down south, Chinnaovulapuram village wakes up every other day to the wailing of a young wife who has just become a widow.
Of the 1,200-something families, there are many in which all the women —mother, daughter and daughter-in-law — are widows. Locals say that most men died of heart attacks, asthma and TB. But there are whispers, of AIDS claiming the lives of several young men, of others killing themselves out of shame after finding that they could do nothing to stop the vineyard bosses from sexually exploiting their wives.
“The number of young men dying in the village is on the rise,” said a local official. “Fifteen of our men died in 2008, 19 in 2009 and 21 died till September this year. Even though we mention asthma and heart attack as the reasons for the deaths so that the families are not humiliated and so insurance claims are quickly settled, the actual reasons are often too mortifying to cite.”
A mother of three, Vimala (name changed), is a victim of this peculiar malaise. Her husband Kumaradoss, 25, died of a ‘heart attack’ nine months ago and now the young woman lives with her aunt, who is also a widow. “I am a school dropout and I have no option but to work in the grape garden. I get `70 a day. There are four mouths to feed and I have to send two kids to school,” the young widow said, fighting back tears. Knock on any door of Chinnaovulapuram and you hear a similar story.
The women of Chinnaovulapuram have someone to look to for help. She has a name, but most know her as Mayil Patti because she was a great beauty when she was young. “I stopped caring about myself when my husband died within five years of our marriage. Now I take care of many families while the women are away working in the grape gardens,” says 80-year-old Mayil. Her daughter Annamylu, 45, chose to remain a spinster “because she did not want to end up a widow”.
“I have been visiting one village every month. I have not yet made it to Chinnaovulapuram. My next trip will be to that village to sort out its problems,” said Theni district collector P. Muthuveeran.