Why women in this Mathura village skip Karva Chauth fast

AGRA: On the day when married women across the country will be celebrating Karva Chauth and fast the entire day for the long life of their husbands, women of Mathura’s Vijau village will avoid fasting for their better halves.
They believe that if they take part in the Karva Chauth rituals, the life line of their husbands will be cut short.
Though there is no scientific explanation behind their belief, a myth has become the tradition for residents of Vijau village in Surir town, where a Brahmin woman had cursed the entire locality after her husband was beaten to death on the day of Karva Chauth around 200 years ago.

According to local residents, a Brahmin from Ram Nagla village was passing through Surir with his bride on a bullock cart on the day of Karva Chauth, when some local residents stopped him on suspicion of stealing bulls and beat him to death.
Talking to TOI, Vijau village head Murari lal said that after her husband was killed, the widow cursed the people of the village and then killed herself by committing sati on her husband’s funeral pyre. He said that women of this village not only follow the decades old tradition of not keeping fasts on this day, but also offer prayers at a “Sati” temple for the long lives of their husband on Karva Chauth.
Besides, every man in the village takes the blessing of “Sati mata” before participating in wedding rituals, Murari said.
An elderly woman from Thakur family told TOI over phone that she has never observed Karva Chauth fast. “We don’t even use the sindoor (vermilion) that our husband or his family gives us, but put our own instead,” said 96-year-old Sunhari Devi.
Babita, another married woman of the same village, said that this tradition has been followed for decades. She said, “Since the curse of the widow, no Thakur family members have ever attempted to keep fast on this day.”
Incidentally, the belief became stronger after some men of the village died untimely deaths after their wives observed the Karva Chauth fast. “We have seen people die after the fast and, hence, even after 25 years of my marriage, I have never dared to observe the fast,” added Babita.