INDIAN GIRLS DIE
TRAGEDY OF THE PURDAH t CALCUTTA, May 29. “Death Behind the Purdah,” is the dramatic headline in a report issued by Dr. Crake, the health officer of Calcutta, who says that between the ages of 15 and 20 years live girls die of tuberculosis for every boy who succumbs to that disease. Put brutally, Dr. Crake says, these girls were suffocated behind the purdah. The retention of the purdah system in the -densely-populated gullies of a congested city dooms many girls to an early death from tuberculosis. In a great city it is difficult to secure absolute privacy without admitting light and air, as the houses and narrow lanes are sure to be overlooked. Therefore the zenana is usually situated in an inner portion of the house, which is ill-lighted, ill-ventilat-ed, and effectually screened from observation.
The purdah is the curtain used for screening women from the sight of strangers while in the zenana, the part of the house in which women of high caste families in India are secluded.
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Greymouth Evening Star, 16 June 1925, Page 8
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173INDIAN GIRLS DIE Greymouth Evening Star, 16 June 1925, Page 8
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