Radha (Sardar Akhtar) is an indomitable woman, toiling away to feed her three sons and to pay off Sukhilala (Kanhaiyalal), the village's rapacious moneylender. When she learns that she is pregnant again, her husband, Shamu (Arun Kumar Ahuja), runs far away, leaving her to fend for herself against poverty and the lecherous advances of Sukhilala. Later, the two eldest children die, leaving her with only two sons: the straight-laced Ramu (Surendra) and the wild Birju (Yakub). Ramu becomes a bandit which eventually forces Radha to take drastic actions.