"To Die Following Her Husband," 18-Year-Old Wife Acquitted After 37 Years, India in Uproar

The Case of Roop Kanwar Who Died by 'Sati' in India
Perpetrators Forced to Commit Sati Acquitted After 37 Years
"End the Sati Custom"... Resurfacing Again

A past incident in India where an 18-year-old widow was burned alive as part of a sati ritual is once again stirring controversy. On the 20th (local time), the British BBC reported, "The case of Roop Kanwar, who died at the age of 18 thirty-seven years ago, has recently resurfaced in Indian society."

In September 1987, Kanwar, who lived in Rajasthan, India, was placed on a funeral pyre the day after her husband died. This was due to the tradition of sati, which forced widows to die alongside their deceased husbands. The term sati means 'virtuous wife' and is a harmful custom originating from ancient Hindu rituals. Attempts to ban sati were made during the Mughal Empire in the 16th century and under British colonial rule in the 19th century, but it is known to still occur in some areas beyond the reach of state authority.

At the time, villagers testified that Kanwar did not voluntarily perform sati; instead, her husband's family drugged her and pushed her onto the pyre. Kanwar reportedly tried to escape the pyre more than three times, but armed guards standing by forced her back into the flames. Afterwards, her brother-in-law set the pyre on fire, immolating Kanwar alongside her deceased husband.

The incident brought the harmful practice of sati into the spotlight, and within a month of the event, the Indian government enacted the Sati Prevention Act. Some members of Kanwar’s husband’s family were arrested, but they claimed that "Kanwar marched through the village wearing a bridal dress, voluntarily climbed onto the pyre, and chanted religious verses beside her husband's body as she burned."

This case was brought back into public discussion on the 9th (local time) when, after a long trial, all eight defendants were acquitted and released, 37 years later. The defense attorney for the eight defendants told the BBC, “They were acquitted because no evidence unfavorable to them was found.”

In response, civil society activists sent a letter to the Governor of Rajasthan, urging the government to challenge the high court’s ‘not guilty’ verdict and to take action to prevent the harmful practice of sati, leading to large-scale protests. The Rajasthan Minister of Law told the BBC, “We have not yet received the judgment. After reviewing it, we will consider judicial measures.”