The film, based on Indira Goswami's Dontal Haatir Uiye Khuwa Haoda, is set in 1940s Assam. Three widows struggle to lead dignified lives despite the extreme restrictions mandated by law and custom. The arrival of a young American scholar, a poisonous snakebite, and the theft of ancestral jewelry combine to bring the situation of the young and beautiful widow Giribala to a painful crisis.