Hundreds of single women, defined in Nepal as widows, divorcees, women whose husbands are missing, and unmarried women above the age of 35, marched on the streets of Kathmandu protesting the "government- sponsored dowry" that they say has treated them as commodities.

"We want the government to provide employment and health care to the families of single women, and scholarships to their children instead of a dowry that will encourage males to marry single women just for money," said Lily Thapa, a single woman who founded a nongovernmental organization that now has 44,000 single women as members.

Thapa says marriage is not the solution to the problems of single women.

Instead, making them financially independent for life through employment and education for their children can help them, she said.

Tradition-seeped Nepali society looks down upon single women.

Widows are considered "impure" and "evil," while women who choose to lead single lives are looked upon suspiciously.

The 10-year Maoist insurgency that cost the country more than 13,000 lives produced thousands of widows.

The government has tried to justify the cash incentive as an effort to provide a social support system to such women through marriage.