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Chitradurga: India, being in its developing state and getting into a phase of becoming one of the superpower nations, has some of the social stigmas still haunting it, one of them being the blind beliefs associated with ‘menstruation.’
Ganga Samudra village of Holalkere town has this stigma of banishing women and girls undergoing menstrual period.
The Kadugolla community still continues this practice.
Ironically, it is not only applicable to women and girls who are married and have entered Ganga Samudra, but also to those who are married off to different villages as well.
For girls, it’s mandatory to step out of the village during the menstrual cycle for about 11 days and for women it is 3 days.
Even if a woman gives birth to a child, she must stay out of the village for 9 days and nobody is supposed to help them, as they are considered a curse to the village.
It is a tragedy that even the educated women of the village believe in a folklore character called “Junjjappa Swamy” who, according to the natives, would cause harm to the village if such women are kept within its boundaries.
This inhuman practice is rendering the girls and women of the village prone to contagious diseases.
None of the governments has been successful in putting an end to this pathetic social practice.
