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Women who were permanently injured in the Gujarat quake face ostracism, and despair has driven some to suicide
ANJAR, India - After a major disaster, survivors can often take years to recover and rebuild their lives.
But for others, the suffering continues for the rest of their lives and every day is an uphill struggle to find dignity and support in their communities - even from their closest relatives.
Ten years ago, a devastating earthquake struck western India killing around 14,000 people, injuring over 150,000 and leaving millions homeless.
The disaster - the worst India had witnessed in 50 years - which resulted in towns and villages crumbling to the ground also left hundreds of people with disabilities, such as the loss of limbs due to amputations and spinal injuries resulting in paraplegia.
While most disabled survivors have benefited from medical and financial support given by the state and aid agencies, their social standing has diminished - driving some to the brink of suicide, unable to cope with the ostracism they face.
Like many parts of India, the conservative and patriarchal culture of Gujarat, combined with low rural literacy rates, has left many marginalised groups unaware of their right to live with dignity, say groups like ActionAid which advocates on discrimination issues.
Women, the disabled, widows and minority communities such as lower-castes, Muslims and indigenous tribes people struggle for their right to be accepted as equals.
So when a disaster of such magnitude happens, women are one of the main groups facing the biggest challenges.
Not only was mortality highest amongst women, disabilities were also higher than men because most women were indoors doing household chores when the quake occurred at around 9 a.m. on Jan. 26, 2001.
Aid workers say more than 60 percent of those who were physically impaired are women, including dozens of paraplegics.
In villages and towns across the most severely-hit region of Kutch, disabled women recount their experiences of being abandoned by their husbands and in-laws, shunned by their communities and subjected to constant mental torture by their families who remind them daily of the "burden" they have become.
"It would have been better if I had had my legs amputated, rather than be in a wheelchair," says Mayaba Laluba Solanki, 34, who lost the ability to walk when her home in the town of Anjar came tumbling down on that fateful morning.
"I could then perhaps have got artificial limbs, and walk with the help of a crutch – at least then people would have more likely accepted me."
Mayaba had a three-month-old baby girl when her husband abandoned her and their child, saying that he could not be seen with such "shame" in his village.
Despite this, she has, with the help of her parents, raised her ten-year-old daughter but adds there is little dignity in her life – begging people to help her fetch water, hang clothes on the washing line or even cash her monthly disability pension cheque of 2,500 rupees ($55).
There are other women, whose wedding engagements were broken or were turned out by their own parents, who now live a lonely existence.
Some are so depressed by their treatment that they have attempted suicide by self-immolation – pouring kerosene over themselves and setting themselves alight.
Parents of girls who were disabled by the quake also have serious concerns about their future in a society which largely perceives that a woman's only role in life is to get married and care for her husband, his family and their children.
For most of these women the future looks bleak and the idea of getting an education, work or remarriage is unimaginable.
"It could never happen. First no man would ever want to marry me as they want some able-bodied person who will be able to look after them," says Mayaba.
"Secondly, my father would kill me rather than have the shame of me remarrying."
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