Inside Mangav, a unique Maharashtra village for abandoned women and their children

Tucked away in Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar), Maharashtra’s largest district, is a self-sustainable rehabilitation commune, Mangav. The creation of two doctors, Dr Rajendra Bajirao Dhamane and his wife Dr Sucheta Dhamane, Mangav is an extension of their NGO, Mauli Seva Pratishthan (MSP), wherein the duo offers lifelong care to mentally and physically ill homeless women and their children. “For more than two decades, my life as a doctor has taken me beyond hospital walls: to highways, railway stations, marketplaces, and forgotten corners of our cities where mentally and physically ill women wander without shelter, treatment, or dignity,” says Dr Rajendra, “Many are victims of repeated sexual violence. Some are pregnant. Most are nameless, undocumented, and invisible to systems. What began as emergency medical help gradually became a lifelong commitment.”