Hindu Wife-burning | A Sick Custom
What is “Sati”?
Sati is the practice of widow burning (being cremated with her dead husband). A woman who dies burning herself on her husbands funeral fire was considered most virtuous, and was believed to directly go to heaven, redeeming all the forefathers rotting in hell, by this “meritorious” act.
The woman (Hindu widow) who committed Sati was worshipped as a Goddess, and temples were built in her memory.
The most high-profile Sati incident was in Rajasthan in 1987 when 18-year-old Roop Kanwar was burned to death.
The case sparked national and international outrage.
Police charged Roop Kanwar’s father-in-law and brother-in-law with forcing her to sit on the pyre with her husband’s body.
Sati is believed to have originated some 700 years ago among the ruling class or Rajputs in India.
The Rajput women burnt themselves after their men were defeated in battles to avoid being taken by the victors. But it came to be seen as a measure of wifely devotion in later years.
The custom was outlawed by India’s British rulers in 1829 following demands by Indian reformers.
But this cruel inhumane Hindu practice still occurs rarely, mostly in parts of northern and central India.
