Living Death in the City of Widows: A Mixed-Methods Study of Social Death, Stigma, and Abandonment Among Older Widows in Vrindavan, India.

Authors

Tekmal Solmanraj

Published in

Omega. Pages 302228261484440. Aug 31, 2026. Epub Aug 31, 2026.

Abstract

India has 46.4 million widows, the highest number globally, with thousands migrating to Vrindavan, the "City of Widows," where they experience systematic social exclusion and marginalization (Loomba Foundation, 2015; Pathak & Tripathi, 2016). This study examines the socio-psychological, cultural, and economic problems faced by widows in Vrindavan through the lens of social death theory (Goffman, 1963; Kastenbaum, 1977). A convergent parallel mixed-methods design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017) employed structured interviews (N = 258) and qualitative case narratives. Participants were selected via stratified random sampling from government-run ashrams (n = 101), NGO-run ashrams (n = 56), and rented accommodations (n = 101). Quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square tests, and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Integration occurred at the interpretation stage using a weaving approach (Fetters et al., 2013). All respondents reported experiencing stigma (100%); 93.8% received no family visitors; 98.8% reported self-reported psychological symptoms; and 71.7% had no pension. Economic independence was significantly associated with spending capacity (χ2 = 126.502, df = 3, p < .001). Education was associated with lower levels of self-reported depressive symptoms (χ2 = 19.019, df = 20, p = .021). Qualitative thematic analysis revealed four key themes: (1) The Family as Site of Danger, (2) Internalized Stigma and Self-Exclusion, (3) Institutional Care and Its Limits, and (4) Resilience amid Social Exclusion. Widows in Vrindavan experience systematic social exclusion before biological death through four mechanisms: ritual degradation, spatial exclusion, affective abandonment, and economic destitution. The study extends social death theory by demonstrating that social erasure is a cumulative process rather than a binary state, and that cultural stigma operates independently of economic status. Policy interventions for pension coverage, mental health support, legal awareness, and dignified care are urgently needed.

PMID:
42672966
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Sep 2026.

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