A woman sits inside her house in Kathmandu March 19, 2009.

About 200 women marched through the Nepali capital Monday to denounce a government scheme to pay cash incentives¹ to men for marrying widows, witnesses said.

Nepal announced a plan last month to pay men the equivalent of $650 for marrying widows, angering the widows.

Monday, women shouting slogans such as "You can't sell your mother," and "We don't want government dowries," marched toward a government complex that houses the prime minister's office.

They were stopped by riot police, but there were no arrests or violence.

Durga Neupane, an organizer and a widow, said activists² would mobilize widows throughout the nation if the government failed to scrap³ the decision by Friday.

"If that is not done we'll gather widows from across the country and organize more protests," she said.

The government says the scheme seeks to help widows who face social and cultural barriers in a majority-Hindu society.

But Neupane said it would only add to their woes⁴ as men would marry widows for money and later abandon them. Widows, she said, should instead be given jobs, better health care and education.

据目击者说，本周一，近200名妇女在尼泊尔首都加德满都游行，谴责政府对娶寡妇的男性给予现金激励的计划。

尼泊尔政府在上个月宣布了一项计划，将给予和寡妇结婚的男性相当于650美元的现金激励，这让寡妇们十分恼火。

本周一，妇女们在通往总理府政府楼群的街道上游行，高呼“你不能卖你的母亲”和“我们不要政府给的嫁妆”等口号。

她们被防暴警察拦住，不过没有人被逮捕，也没有暴力事件发生。

杜尔加•纽帕妮是这次游行的组织者，也是一位寡妇，她说如果政府不在周五前废除这一决定，激进分子将会动员全国的寡妇（游行）。

她说：“如果政府不取消这一计划，我们将会从全国召集更多的寡妇，组织更多的抗议。”

政府称该计划是为了帮助那些在这个印度教占统治地位的社会里遭遇到社会和文化壁垒的寡妇们。

但是纽帕妮说这只会加重她们的苦难，因为男人会为了钱和寡妇结婚，然后再将她们抛弃。她说，政府该做的应该是为寡妇们提供工作，更好的医疗保健服务和教育。

Vocabulary:

incentive: （金钱方面的）鼓励，刺激

complex: 综合建筑物

scrap: 废弃