In This Indian Village, Menstruating Women Are Not Allowed To Fetch Water From The Village Pond Due To Superstitions
No matter how many movies are released, headlined by big stars no less, turns out that the topic of periods is still going to be a taboo. In India, for instance, despite several initiatives, proper education at school, free menstruation pad distribution drives, women on periods are still considered to be ‘impure’ or ‘unclean’. And feeding into these preconceived notions and taboos is an interior village in Mudigubba Mandal, Paipedu where women are still not allowed to fetch water when they’re on their periods.
Coming as a bigger disappointment than a shock, for its no news that women are once again bearing the brunt of our stereotypical mindset, the woman of this village Paipedu are simply not allowed to fetch fresh drinking water from the small pond while they are menstruating.
The population of this village is small, just about 300 people, but clearly the mentality is smaller. As everyone depends on this pond for their water needs, one can only imagine the despair when women in the village are prohibited from using it for 5 days in a month, every month.
We are requesting sir please do the process of lifting of water into the ponds thorough the process of the yettipotala pathakam @areas of pulivendula and some villages of mudigubba mandal sir.I storngly believeing the C.M. sir.
— Gangaraj (@Gangara80057978) September 23, 2019
Also Read : This Village In Maharashtra Has Elected An All-Woman Panchayat. It’s Now Cleaner, Inclusive And Menstruation Is No Longer Taboo
As most women take up the task of fetching water, when they are shunned from the pond they have to heavily rely on the men or their families for their needs. A villager named Lakshmi Devi shared that this custom has been blindly followed by everyone in the village, for a while now.
However, what got our goat was the justification the villagers give to themselves for it. Apparently, the pond for fresh water had dried up a year ago and the villagers all suspected that it happened after a woman entered the pond while she was on her periods. Because why not?
Lakshmi Devi said, “We are strictly following the custom for many years. Neighbours and friends supply drinking water for families that do not have a male member on such occasions.” It is frustrating to see that the villagers and women alike, are all propagating such social taboos, rather than fighting against them. Perhaps this is why there needs to be a wider spread awareness on menstruation, so that the society stops blaming and excluding women for a process that is all but natural.
