Mental abuse of ‘tiger widows’ in Sundarbans

Several “tiger widows” experience mental distress and they lack the resources to seek help in the remote areas of Sunderbans. The tale of Anjali Baidhya (36), who is a mother of two, went viral on social media platforms. Her husband went fishing and was probably attacked by a tiger in 2021. However, his body is still unrecovered. She felt helpless after this incident because she had nowhere to go and no one to feed her children during the lockdown. Thanks to Facebook! Her story went viral and she was rescued by an NGO. Her son is now enrolled in a good school in Chandanpiri, Kolkata, but she is still struggling to make ends meet because her family members are attempting to seize her assets, and she is fighting alone because tiger widows only receive accidental benefits, and since her husband’s body has not been recovered, she has received no compensation.
“These occurrences are rather common; several people have been attacked by tigers, leaving their wives helpless. I’ve spoken to many tiger widows, and we try to assist them by giving rations and other necessities. The majority of people go to the core tiger zones, of Morijhapi, Kultali and so forth where fish and crabs are plentiful and become victims,” Prof Sumita Mukhopadhyay, Bethune College, Kolkata, who is working for the “tiger widows” told The Sunday Guardian.
Family members may exert social pressure on young widows in order to get money or property. The majority of tiger widows take care of the house and their children after their spouses pass away. Aged tiger widows, on the other hand, do not have the same difficulties as their siblings, preferably sons, preferably, look after their mothers and the family.
Furthermore, because domestic violence is common in such situations, many young tiger widows feel emotionally and physically free, as they have control over their lives. While discussing her experience of working with Tiger widows, she told this correspondent, “There has been no proper help from the government because the money offered as an accidental benefit is insufficient. The majority of the old tiger widows go fishing in these creeks and core regions since they are unable to manage their lives and families. These families have a yearly income of less than Rs 50,000. Some young widows either accept full responsibility and manage the family on a limited budget, or they abandon their families and flee in search of a better life. As a result, it has been noticed that the majority of tiger widows do not continue to mourn the death of their husband.”
She further added, “Many young widows are victims of domestic violence, so when their husbands are attacked by tigers, they experience a financial loss rather than emotional loss. They feel liberated and seek out new opportunities to earn money for a living, but they constantly battle social stigma.”
Tiger attacks have escalated during the lockdown. Surprisingly, the majority of Sunderban tiger widows do not blame tigers and recognise that their spouses entered core regions and were thus attacked by tigers. There have been no exact official records of tiger casualties because many fishermen do not have a Boat License Certificate or BLC, and only the fishermen who have a BLC and their bodies recovered are reported and registered.
“Many fishermen, who frequently go fishing in the core regions, lack BLC, thus even if their bodies are recovered, their names are not recorded as tiger attack victims. Obtaining BLC is now difficult. There are also no official records of tiger attacks if the bodies are not recovered,” Umashankar Mondal, who works with Tiger widows, told this newspaper. However, during the pandemic and currently, the number of attacks has increased.
When approached by The Sunday Guardian to inquire about the number of tiger attacks, officials denied that the number of tiger attacks had increased since the outbreak, as indicated by various sources. “Since the fencing has been increased and strengthened and there has been rigorous attention at multiple checkpoints and tiger zones, getting into the core zones has become increasingly difficult. Most of these attacks happen on the lands of these core regions. This year, in January, there were two attacks, while in the last year, the number of tiger attacks was only 11,” said a forest ranger official.