Sindhutai Sapkal was also known as the ‘Mother of orphans’. She was known for her work in raising hundreds of orphans, abandoned and destitute children, as well as towards the rehabilitation of women. She had undergone surgery on 24th November 2021  but about a week ago, she developed a lung infection and was admitted to the Galaxy Care hospital in Pune. She suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Tuesday 4 January 2021 at 8:10 pm and passed away. Her death came as a shock to many. The funeral will be held around 12 noon on Wednesday 5 January 2022. Paying tribute to the renowned social worker, PM Modi tweeted, "Dr Sindhutai Sapkal will be remembered for her noble service to society. Due to her efforts, many children could lead a better quality of life."

Sindhutai was born in the Wardha district of Maharashtra on 14 November 1948. She studied only up to class 4. She was married at the age of 10 to a man who was 30 years older than her. After her marriage, she settled in the Navargaon forest area of Wardha. During her pregnancy, a local landlord spread rumours about her, following which her husband abandoned her. Even her own family slammed the door on her and the community boycotted her. Sindhutai then gave birth to her child in a cowshed. She made her living by singing and begging in trains. During this period of struggle, she realised that there were hundreds of children who needed a mother. It then changed the course of her life as she started adopting orphaned and abandoned children. Having raised over 1,050 orphan children, she boasts of having 207 sons-in-law and 36 daughters-in-law. Sakpal has received the Padma Shri award as well as 750 other awards. She would use the money from the awards to build shelter homes for orphans.

Tags

• Sindhutai
• Sakpal
• mother
• of
• orphans
• dead
• deat

Advertisement