Posted on 08/07/2002 8:01:45 AM PDT by 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
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.
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.
Now, now. We must not be judgemental. After all, diversity is our strength!(BARF)
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.
What's wrong with that statement?
They didn't throw stones, rather, they tossed pythonic cows at them?
FMCDH
Moooo... Damnit!
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.
Being treated as a normal human being is now considered "empowerment"?
Perhaps by a race of idiots...
or savages.
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