Denganmal is a typical village in India’s western Maharashtra state. It is known for something the ‘urban India’ might never be able to understand. Men in this village go about marrying women for a reason that is as bizarre as it is heartbreaking.

Here’s the reason:

This short film, produced for ActionAid India, takes you into the lives of three women, who bear the brunt of an unjust, unfair system. Men take a second or third wife, whose duty it is to fetch drinking water for the family from a far-away well. It allows the women, often widows or single mothers, to regain respect in conservative rural India.

This short film directed by Jaydeep Sarkar, written by Swati Bhattacharya. Each minute of the short will reveal to you a story, that is evocative and poignant.