Srinagar, March 22 -- Sajida Ahmed sat on the edge of her bed, lit dimly by the yellow glow of a naked bulb swinging gently in the corner of her rented room in Srinagar. It was the middle of a cold March night. The kangri she used for warmth had long gone cold, just like her hopes. Her sewing machine-a gift from her husband before his sudden death-stood silently in the corner. It had been her only steady companion these last two years.

Widowed at 38, left with two daughters and no property in her name, Sajida was at the mercy of fate and fading generosity. Her in-laws had washed their hands of her. Her brothers, with whom she once played under the walnut trees of her father's orchard, now told her: "You were married properly, your dowry ...