New Bali bombings prepossess horror for widows from first attack

Warti, who lost her husband in the 2002 Bali bombings, had been starting to put it behind her. But the latest blasts brought a flood of horrific memories, the search for his body, his burial and the loneliness that followed.

"It was such a shock," the 26-year-old widow said of the Oct. 1 suicide bombings on three crowded restaurants, just kilometers (miles) from the terror strike that ripped apart her own family three years ago. "I couldn't believe it would happen again in Bali."

The attack was only the latest hurdle for Balinese victims of the Oct. 12, 2002, bombings on two tourist-packed nightclubs that claimed 202 lives. Those blasts killed the husbands of 21 Indonesian women, many of them unskilled housewives, outreach workers say.

They lost not only husbands, but the sole providers for their families. They were forced to raise children alone and seek work for the first time in a culture where men are the traditional breadwinners.

"Some of them (other widows) called me" after the latest attack. "They were crying," said Sherlyana, who does outreach work with victims for The Humanitarian Foundation for Mother Earth group. "They were remembering the tragedy. For them, it was just like three years ago."

Like many Indonesians, Warti and Sherlyana use single names. Warti, who displays her wedding photo in her home and still wears her ring, was one of six women in Kepaon village who lost a husband in the 2002 bombing attacks, reports the AP. I.L.

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