Sati re-enacted in UP village

SATPURWAN (UP), Nov 13 (UNI) — The police has sealed all entry points leading to this village in Mahoba district to thwart crowds heading for a look at the cremation site where the Dalit wife of a tuberculosis (TB) patient followed her dead husband onto a burning funeral pyre two days ago, in a horrific re-enactment of a barbaric medieval Hindu custom of sati.

Many persons present at the cremation of the dead man, Mani Ram Shah, have been arrested by the police which had removed offerings of coins and coconuts at the pyre sati.

Villagers said when 60-year-old Mani Ram, died in a hospital on November 11, his body was taken for the cremation. As mourners went for a ritual bath in the nearby stream after placing the body on the funeral pyre, Mani Ram’s 55-year-old wife Charan Shah, bedecked in bridal finery, jumped into the flames. By the time villagers reached the spot, Charan Shah had died.

As news of the sati spread to the nearby villages, people started flocking to Satpurwan with offerings of coconuts and other material.

The information reached the police after 12 hours when the village chowkidar went to the police post along with Mani Ram’s two sons.

The village headman said the police role had been called into question as it was trying to establish that Charan Shah was insane.

Sati, which was outlawed in the country in 1829 was last reported in Deorala village in Sikar district of Rajasthan in 1987 when a young Rajput woman, Roop Kanwar, jumped onto her husband’s funeral pyre. The Rajasthan Government then made the abetment of sati an offence which entailed the death penalty.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi the People’s Union for Democratic Rights today said the reports of a 55-year-old woman committing sati in Satpurwa clearly indicated involvement of her in-laws and demanded immediate arrest of the alleged abettors.

"It is clear from the press reports that the immolation of the woman was not a spontaneous act and the complicity of the in-laws, villagers and the police is evident,’’ PUDR secretary Shahana Bhattacharya said in a statement.

The PUDR demanded registration of an FIR in the incident and an investigation by the CBI.

"The fact that the woman was dressed in bridal finery indicates assistance of the in-laws, the presence of villagers establishes abetment and the "announcement’’ of the woman beforehand that she would end her life on her husband’s funeral pyre and the absence of the police to prevent it indicate complicity on the part of the administration,’’ the statement said.

Reacting to the incident, the Guild of Service (Delhi branch) suggested empowerment of the National Commission for Women (NCW) and state commissions to deal with such situations besides a proper orientation in the training schedule of the police personnel.

In a statement on behalf of the guild, Ms Mohini Giri, former NCW chairperson, also called for a massive awareness campaign to combat such incidents.