DHAKA, Sept 12, 2025 (BSS) - Their life stories are intertwined with tigers. Women whose husbands are killed in attacks by the Royal Bengal Tigers in the Sundarbans are known as 'Tiger Widows'. They live in villages adjacent to the forest. 

Due to superstitions, these women are considered as ill-fated or unlucky. As a result, they are ostracized and forced to make their living through hardship and isolation.

There are some 750 tiger widows at Koyra upazila in Khulna alone while in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira, the number stands at 1,165. Tiger widows are also found in forest-adjacent areas of Mongla, Morrelganj and Sharankhola upazilas in Bagerhat as well as in Dacope upazila of Khulna although the exact figures are unavailable. The situation of all these bereaved women is equally deplorable.

In 2008, Abdul Gaffar from Koyra upazila in Khulna was killed by a tiger while fishing in the Sundarbans. His wife, Rokeya Khatun, became a tiger widow and thus could not remarry. The humiliation did not end there as she never received a government widow allowance. To keep her household running, Rokeya had to work as a day laborer. Like her, thousands of women in villages around the Sundarbans endure such harsh lives under the label of 'Tiger Widows'.

Local representatives and officials from the government and non-governmental organizations say that the rate of women becoming widows due to tiger attacks has declined in recent years. However, the plight of those who became tiger widows has not been resolved. Efforts are underway to rehabilitate them through imparting training on sewing and through other means.

The women known as 'Tiger Widows' say that since the death of their husbands, they have faced an uphill struggle to run their households and thus continuing education to their children. They survive by catching fish fry in rivers and canals, working as day laborers, or doing jobs in other homes.

Rokeya Begum said, "Since my husband's death, I have had to work extremely hard to raise my daughter and son, sometimes fishing in rivers, sometimes working as day laborer." 

Another tiger widow from Koyra, Ambia Khatun, said, "Twenty-two years ago, my husband Amjad Hossain Sardar went into fishing in the Sundarbans. A tiger attacked and killed him. Since then, I have been fighting a new battle with my three daughters, a battle that continues till date." 

She added that neither she nor any other tiger widow in her area has ever received a government allowance.

Sources said that forest-dependent people can no longer enter the Sundarbans as freely. As a result, deaths of forest workers from tiger attacks have decreased while the rate of new tiger widows has also gone down. However, some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups have recently stepped forward to help change the fate of tiger widows. 

One such organization is Initiative for Coastal Development (ICD), which recently provided sewing machines and fabric to some 40 tiger widows, including Rokeya Begum, after a month-long training program. Another NGO is working with tiger widows in Shyamnagar upazila.

Ashikuzzaman, the founder of ICD, said that the idea of helping tiger widows inspired their initiative. Their activities first began in Koyra providing sewing training and sewing machines to widows as part of the project.

A Sundarbans West Forest Division officer, preferring anonymity, said that strict restrictions are now in place on entering the Sundarbans. 

"Forest workers cannot enter the jungle easily, so we don't receive as many reports of tiger attacks," he said. 

He added that various measures have been taken to increase the number of tiger population and thus ensuring their free movement, including regulating tourist entry to the forest.

Chairman of Koyra Sadar Union Parishad said that work is underway to prepare a list of tiger widows. Based on the list, the tiger widows will be rehabilitated.