www.sacw.net | May 27, 2005
India: Protest Against Police Inaction and Glorification of Sati in UP
We were horrified to read the newspaper report "Sati in UP village, police wake up after crowds throng site" in the Indian Express of May 26, 2005 [http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=71051]. Ram Kumari, a 75-year-old widow who immolated herself on her husband Jageshwar Tiwari's funeral pyre in Bahundari village near Jaspur in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh on May 7th. This desperate act of a widow is being lauded as "sati" by hundreds of people thronging to the site.
This is the seventh incident of "sati" since 1952 in Banda district. Yet, the Banda District Magistrate [DM] Dheeraj Sahu said, "We have inquired into this incident and decided not to lodge an FIR against anyone."
Is the DM unaware of people arriving in large numbers at the site after the 13th-day rituals? Prayers are being offered at the pyre site where even a makeshift 'chabootra' has come up. Among the "devotees" was UP minister Jagdish Chand Bose, a close associate of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Bose reportedly circled the pyre, even scooped the ash lying there and rubbed it on his forehead as a mark of respect. Others came with incense sticks and diyas to perform pooja. This is an outright violation of the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, which forbids any glorification of sati, and makes it punishable with upto 7 years imprisonment and a possible fine of Rs.30,000.
The suspicion that Ram Kumari's death could be linked to a land dispute (The Telegraph, May 26, 2005 [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050526/asp/frontpage/story_4788468.asp] ) makes it all the more imperative to investigate her death by immolation. The deprivation of land rights and the miserable existence widows are subjected to cannot be wished away by "glorifying" their murder or desperate suicides as "sati".
We demand that strict action be taken against the DM, police officials and public servants whose duty it is to prevent the glorification of sati. It is imperative that the retrogressive practice of widow immolation is stopped, and its glorification as "sati" prevented.
Satnam Sachdeva and Shweta Vachani
[For Saheli]
Saheli Women's Resource Centre
Above Shop Nos. 105-108
Under Defence Colony Flyover Market (South Side)
New Delhi 110 024
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