Surviving Abuse
Uma is a strong woman who has led a hard life. That night when she came home after walking around Arunachala, the sacred Mountain, she was trembling with fear. Her husband was waiting. To avoid him she went up to the roof. He followed her, kicked her down the stairs, and hit her with a stone and a chair. Later she had to sew the wound herself.
Uma asked her brother for help. He came but didn’t want to take her away, knowing that life would be very difficult for a woman with two children and no husband. Instead, he came back with a group of men from the village to try to talk with the husband. In response, her husband kicked Uma and the children out, saying, “She is useless and of no benefit. I don’t want her here anymore!”
