Roop Kanwar
Encyclopedia
Roop Kanwar was an 18-year old Rajput
woman who committed sati
on 4 September 1987 at Deorala
village of Sikar district
in Rajasthan
, India
. At the time of her death, she had been married for eight months to Maal Singh Shekhawat
, who had died a day earlier at age 24, and had no children.
Several thousand people attended the sati event. After her death, Roop Kanwar was hailed as a sati mata – a "sati" mother, or pure mother. The event quickly produced a public outcry in urban centres, pitting a modern Indian ideology against a traditional one. The incident led first to state level laws to prevent such incidents, then the central government's The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act.
News reports of the incident present conflicting stories about the voluntariness of Kanwar's death. Some news reports claim Kanwar was forced to her death by other attendees present. At the same time, there are contradictory reports which claim that Roop Kanwar told her brother-in-law to light the pyre when she was ready, supporting the possibility of willingness or resignation to Sati on the part of Kanwar.
The original inquiries resulted in 45 people being charged with her murder; these were acquitted. A much-publicized later investigation led to the arrest of a large number of people from Deorala, said to have been present in the ceremony, or participants in it. Eventually, 11 people, including state politicians, were charged with glorification of sati. On January 31, 2004, a special court in Jaipur
acquitted all of the 11 accused in the case, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove charges that they glorified sati
.
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
woman who committed sati
Sati (practice)
For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
on 4 September 1987 at Deorala
Deorala
Deorala is a village in the Sikar district of Rajasthan, India.Deorala is a village in Shekhawati region. It is located near Amarsar which was the capital of Maharao Shekhaji, ancientor of all Shekhawat rajputs....
village of Sikar district
Sikar district
Sikar District is a district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. The town of Sikar is the district headquarters.-Location:The district is located in the north-eastern part of the state of Rajasthan. It is bounded on the north by Jhunjhunu District, in the north-west by Churu district, in...
in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. At the time of her death, she had been married for eight months to Maal Singh Shekhawat
Shekhawat
Shekhawat is a sub-clan of Kachwaha Rajputs found mainly in Rajasthan, India. The Shekhawat clan claims descent from the great rajput warrior Maharao Shekha Ji. The Shekhawats were the most prominent among all sub clans of Kachwahas of Jaipur. Shekhawats were the rulers of Shekhawati.-History:The...
, who had died a day earlier at age 24, and had no children.
Several thousand people attended the sati event. After her death, Roop Kanwar was hailed as a sati mata – a "sati" mother, or pure mother. The event quickly produced a public outcry in urban centres, pitting a modern Indian ideology against a traditional one. The incident led first to state level laws to prevent such incidents, then the central government's The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act.
News reports of the incident present conflicting stories about the voluntariness of Kanwar's death. Some news reports claim Kanwar was forced to her death by other attendees present. At the same time, there are contradictory reports which claim that Roop Kanwar told her brother-in-law to light the pyre when she was ready, supporting the possibility of willingness or resignation to Sati on the part of Kanwar.
The original inquiries resulted in 45 people being charged with her murder; these were acquitted. A much-publicized later investigation led to the arrest of a large number of people from Deorala, said to have been present in the ceremony, or participants in it. Eventually, 11 people, including state politicians, were charged with glorification of sati. On January 31, 2004, a special court in Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
acquitted all of the 11 accused in the case, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove charges that they glorified sati
Sati (practice)
For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
.