Why Did 13,000 Women Remove Their Uteruses for Working in a Sugarcane Farm?
In Maharashtra’s Beed district, many women sugarcane workers reportedly underwent unnecessary uterus removal surgeries due to harsh working conditions and fear of losing wages.
A heartbreaking reality has emerged from Beed, where thousands of families migrate every year for sugarcane cutting work.
Between October and March, couples work exhausting hours in harsh conditions, living in temporary shelters with little water, poor sanitation, and almost no healthcare. Missing even one day of work can mean wage cuts, debt, or pressure from contractors known as mukadams.
For many women, menstruation became a major challenge because there were no clean toilets, no privacy, and no time to rest. Over time, some women began believing that removing their uterus through hysterectomy was the only way to avoid losing income during the work season.
Around 2018, this disturbing pattern started gaining attention. A survey by the Maharashtra State Commission for Women revealed that nearly 36% of women in parts of Beed had undergone hysterectomy, far above the national average. Many women, some in their 20s and 30s, said they were warned by private doctors that their condition could become dangerous or even cancerous if they did not undergo surgery.
Investigations later revealed a troubling cycle. Contractors preferred workers who would not take breaks, while some doctors allegedly recommended unnecessary surgeries without properly explaining the long-term health risks. Many women even took loans to pay for these operations before the sugarcane season began.
By 2019, reports suggested that over 13,000 women in Beed had undergone hysterectomy. Public outrage pushed the Maharashtra government to launch inquiries, inspect private clinics, introduce medical review committees, and start awareness campaigns to prevent unnecessary surgeries.
Yet, even years later, the issue has not fully disappeared because the harsh realities of sugarcane labour remain unchanged. Behind the sweetness of sugar lies a painful story of exploitation, poverty, and the silent suffering of thousands of women.
