India Police Arrest Sons Who Forced Their Mother To Commit Suttee

The Sydney Morning Herald | Aug 8, 2002 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Indian police arrest sons after woman commits suttee

August 8 2002

Fifteen people who allegedly forced a woman to burn herself to death by sitting on her husband's funeral pyre in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh were arrested yesterday.

The woman's two sons will be charged with murder over yesterday's incident, said Savita Shoney, a local police officer.

Shoney told AFP that sweeping arrests were being made to get to the bottom of the "ugly incident" in which Kuttu Bai burned to death in Tamoli village in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district by committing the centuries-old but outlawed custom of suttee.

"We have arrested 15 people so far. And we have registered a criminal case against Kuttu Bai's sons Ashok and Rajkumar Sen Nai. They will be facing murder charges," said Shoney.

"We suspect them of pushing their 65-year-old mother into this because they simply wanted to grab her property," she added.

Kuttu Bai's elder son Ashok Sen Nai is accused of lighting the pyre in front of several people, including her younger son.

A relative, Jai Narayan Pathak, said to have played a major role in the incident, was the first to be arrested along with the Nai brothers, police said.

Two policemen had rushed to Tamoli village after being told by the village headwoman that an elderly woman in her village was about to commit suttee.

However, the locals threw stones at the police and chased them away.

"We have already arrested some villagers for attacking our police personnel. Others are absconding but will face charges for obstructing justice."

Shoney said that around 40 policemen had been posted in Tamoli village to ensure that no one "tried to glorify" the incident.

"Suttee has been outlawed and any attempts to glorify Tuesday's incident will be firmly quashed," she said.

Ajay Singh, minister for rural development in Madhya Pradesh, said the government backed strong police action.

"The police have the full support of the government to go after the culprits. The government of Madhya Pradesh will not tolerate a few demented people dragging the entire state into prehistoric times," said Singh.

"The incident shows that women need to be empowered. We are very happy that the village head who was a woman alerted the police. It shows that if there were a few more women like her in Tamoli village Kuttu Bai could have been saved."

The last reported suttee was the death of 18-year-old Roop Kanwar, widow of Mal Singh, in the Rajasthan village of Deorala on September 4, 1987, which sparked national and international outrage.

Police charged Sumer Singh, Mal Singh's father, with forcing Roop Kanwar to sit on the pyre with her husband's body as part of the outlawed Hindu rite. Pushpendra Singh, his other son, was accused of lighting the pyre in front of several people.

Kanwar's father-in-law and brother-in-law were both acquitted by an Indian court in October 1996 for lack of evidence.

Following the Roop Kanwar case, India enacted federal legislation providing the death penalty for anyone abetting suttee.

The practice was revered by Hindus in ancient India as an act of wifely devotion. Women also used to burn themselves after their men were defeated in battle to avoid being taken by the victors.

Suttee was outlawed by India's British rulers in 1829 following demands by Indian reformers.

The custom originated 700 years ago in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, home to the Rajputs, a Hindu martial race.

AFP

[yankeedame]

Ah, yes, "multiculturalism"...but then, who are we to judge? And what makes us think our cultural is better than theirs? (sarcasm)

[Alouette]

The custom originated 700 years ago in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, home to the Rajputs, a Hindu martial race.

I was told by a Hindu "activist" that this custom was the reaction to Muslim invaders murdering Hindu men and then raping their widows. In order to avoid "dishonor" from the invading Muslim, the Hindu widow would kill herself by knife or poison then her body would be burned on the husband's funeral pyre. This explanation makes a drop more sense than just burning the wife alive along with the rest of the property.

[Blood of Tyrants]

The practice was revered by Hindus in ancient India as an act of wifely devotion. Women also used to burn themselves after their men were defeated in battle to avoid being taken by the victors.

And if she doesn't want to comply, hell, throw her on anyway! After all, the vote was at least 15 to 1 for her to commit suttee.

[Ciexyz]

Reminds me of "The Far Pavilions", a movie from the mid-80's, starring Ben Cross and Amy Irving, in which the horrors of suttee is a major plot point.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

These people are nuts.

[NorseWood]

Come on baby light my pyre.

[Black Agnes]

OK, can you help the non-Hindu understand suttee? Was it a reaction to the Muslim invasion & war-crimes thereof or does it have a deeper meaning? (several cultures did things like this, not just Hindus...)

[albee]

" Ah, yes, "multiculturalism"...but then, who are we to judge? And what makes us think our cultural is better than theirs? (sarcasm)"

Now, now. We must not be judgemental. After all, diversity is our strength!(BARF)

[Alouette]

can you help the non-Hindu understand suttee?

I am not a Hindu, I was just repeating the explanation that one Hindu gave me, so I can't vouch for its being accurate or correct.

[Black Agnes]

OOP, sorry, was following up your question with a ping to swarthyguy in hopes he could illuminate us a little more. Hopefully he can provide some insight.

[DonQ]

Another explanation for suttee was that it resulted from an erroneous copying of some sanskrit holy writings (originally said that burned butter was a proper sacrifice for the dead, evidently a very slight misspelling turned that into a burned widow). It may also have been a ploy to guarantee that estates went directly to the next generation instead of shifting to the widow who might remarry and mingle the estate with her second husband's. I wouldn't be surprised if the sons in this case were motivated by greed instead of piety to pressure their mother to kill herself.

[mhking]

However, the locals threw stones at the police and chased them away.

What's wrong with that statement?

[nothingnew]

However, the locals threw stones at the police and chased them away.

They didn't throw stones, rather, they tossed pythonic cows at them?

FMCDH

[mhking]

They didn't throw stones, rather, they tossed pythonic cows at them?

Moooo... Damnit!

[Puppage]

This really burns me up!!

[swarthyguy]

Dunno really, except that the British conducted a campaign to ban the savage practice. And they succeeded without that much opposition from people.

In terms of the reasons why sati existed, the only answer i can conceive of is primarily economic - with no means for a woman to live independently, the only choice they perceived was to immolate themselves along with their dead husband.

It's shocking; as a perusal of indian newspapers shows; it has shocked the country that thought that the practice had been wiped out.

[Black Agnes]

That's pretty much what I understood as well. Not being Hindu tho, I didn't want to make assumptions for them...

[Billthedrill]

Mom, if you're reading this, I was just kidding about that life insurance policy...

[xJones]

In order to avoid "dishonor" from the invading Muslim, the Hindu widow would kill herself by knife or poison then her body would be burned on the husband's funeral pyre.

Yes, but this was centuries ago. Agreed, that Muslims are certainly acting up and killing people in India today, but this woman had sons that could have protected her, you would think. It sounds like they just wanted to torch their mother, for some terrible tradition that the British tried to end.

[Publius6961]

"The incident shows that women need to be empowered.

Being treated as a normal human being is now considered "empowerment"?

Perhaps by a race of idiots...
or savages.