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About 200 women marched through the Nepali capital Monday to denounce a government scheme to pay cash incentives to men for marrying widows, witnesses said.
Nepal announced a plan last month to pay men the equivalent of $650 for marrying widows, angering the widows.
Monday, women shouting slogans such as "You can't sell your mother," and "We don't want government dowries," marched toward a government complex that houses the prime minister's office.
They were stopped by riot police, but there were no arrests or violence.
Durga Neupane, an organizer and a widow, said activists would mobilize widows throughout the nation if the government failed to scrap the decision by Friday.
"If that is not done we'll gather widows from across the country and organize more protests," she said.
The government says the scheme seeks to help widows who face social and cultural barriers in a majority-Hindu society.
But Neupane said it would only add to their woes as men would marry widows for money and later abandon them. Widows, she said, should instead be given jobs, better health care and education.
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(Agencies)
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據目擊者說，本周一，近200名婦女在尼泊爾首都加德滿都游行，譴責政府對娶寡婦的男性給予現金激勵的計劃。
尼泊爾政府在上個月宣布了一項計劃，將給予和寡婦結婚的男性相當于650美元的現金激勵，這讓寡婦們十分惱火。
本周一，婦女們在通往總理府政府樓群的街道上游行，高呼“你不能賣你的母親”和“我們不要政府給的嫁妝”等口號。
她們被防暴警察攔住，不過沒有人被逮捕，也沒有暴力事件發生。
杜爾加?紐帕妮是這次游行的組織者，也是一位寡婦，她說如果政府不在周五前廢除這一決定，激進分子將會動員全國的寡婦（游行）。
她說：“如果政府不取消這一計劃，我們將會從全國召集更多的寡婦，組織更多的抗議。”
政府稱該計劃是為了幫助那些在這個印度教占統治地位的社會里遭遇到社會和文化壁壘的寡婦們。
但是紐帕妮說這只會加重她們的苦難，因為男人會為了錢和寡婦結婚，然后再將她們拋棄。她說，政府該做的應該是為寡婦們提供工作，更好的醫療保健服務和教育。
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（英語點津 陳丹妮編輯） |
A woman sits inside her house in Kathmandu March 19, 2009.(Agencies)
