NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 1, Reuter: India’s Rajasthan State, where an 18yearold widow burned to death last month on her husband’s funeral pyre, decreed on Wednesday the death penalty for the abetting of the outlawed practice of “Suttee”.
The law, signed by Rajasthan state governor Vasant Dada Patil, also provides severe penalties for attempting suttee or for glorifying the practice which has been outlawed in India for centuries but persists in the Western desert State.
The law, which applies only to Rajasthan, was prompted by the September 5 suttee of Roop Kanwar who immolated herself in Deorala village.
The act shocked and horrified many Indians, and has been condemned by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Nearly 50 people have been arrested in connection with the act and Roop Kanwar 15yearold brotherinlaw, who lit the pyre, has been charged with murder. But the site of the pyre has drawn thousands of pilgrims kwho consider Roop Kanwar a: demigoddess and have expressed the desire to build a temple to honor the widow.
The ordinance basically defines suttee as the burning or burying alive of a widow with the corpse of her husband. A person found guilty of abetting an act of suttee could be condemned to death or sentenced to life imprisonment.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1987
