India is a country filled with bizarre stories, but at times reality turns out to be stranger than fiction. Highways are meant to bring prosperity and development, but for one tribal village in Telangana, a highway has spelled doom. The widows of Peddakunta | Source: BBC

A deadly journey

To add to the woes of the widows, the village headquarters are situated on the other side of the highway. This means that people need to risk the deadly journey to be able to reach out to the administration. A man from a nearby village did take this journey to file a petition about the deaths, only to meet the same fate as many others.

While venturing out on to the highway means almost certain death, the villagers are still waiting for a service route for a decade, so that they could get safe passage across the highway.

Women left vulnerable
Women in the village are faced with another problem as they are left alone and vulnerable to men from neighbouring villages making sexual advances at them. Poverty caused by lack of income has pushed some widows into prostitution, as men take advantage of the tragedy.

No help, no hope
The widows of the village say that politicians and government officials do visit the village after media attention, but the only relief they get is half a kilo of rice to eat per family, with no family or work.