Strangling of widows is a practice, very rampant in Fiji. It is done as an act of love to the deceased. The traditional practice on the island of Fiji dictated that when a man dies, his wife should typically die with him, hence be killed by strangulation.
The idea was partly to ensure that the deceased would be surrounded by loved ones in their afterlife, but also because the Fijian god, Ruvuyalo was believed to kill the spirits of men not accompanied in death by their wives.
When a woman is about to be strangled and buried with her husband, she is made to kneel down, and the cord (a strip of native cloth) is put round her neck. She is then told to expel her breath as long as possible and when she can endure no longer to stretch out her hand as a signal, whereupon the cord is tightened and soon all over is over. It is believed that, if this direction be followed, insensibility ensues immediately on the tightening of the cord; whereas, if inhalation has taken place, there is an interval of suffering.