India's 'City of Widows'

This is just insane.

On the dusty streets of Vrindavan, a Hindu holy town in northern India, known as the City of Widows, countless sad-eyed women tell similar stories after fleeing the harsh social stigma that comes with the death of a husband.

Forced to shave their heads and dress in white, an estimated 10,000 widows have sought sanctuary in Vrindavan, from newly-weds and mothers in their prime to elderly women who can barely walk, all living on handouts after being deemed socially untouchable.

It is one of the cruellest Hindu traditions to have survived into the 21st century, and is an image that modern India would rather the outside world did not see.