Burning widows (Associated Press)
"While sati cases remain rare today, and India normally only has one every year or so, recent months have seen a surge: At least three widows have died on their husband’s pyres since August, and another was stopped from burning herself to death when villagers intervened.
"Experts can find no explanation for the increase. It’s possible that media reports and word-of-mouth lead to a copycat effect.
"But across rural India, it’s easy to find people who revere sati as the ultimate demonstration of womanly honor, devotion and piety. Thousands of sati temples have been erected over the centuries, many carefully preserved and still in daily use."
See also:
Brothers on murder charge for 'widow burning' (icWales, September 22, 2006)
"Indian police have arrested four brothers for allegedly throwing their 95-year-old mother on to their father’s funeral pyre [...]
"The brothers and villagers initially said the woman, Kuria Devi, climbed into the flames by herself, committing sati, as the ritual suicide is known. Sati has been banned for nearly two centuries.
"But police investigating the death said she was too old and frail to have clambered up alone. Even if she did, none of the 20 people at the funeral stopped her, and would therefore be arrested for abetting sati, local police chief Chanchal Kumar told the Hindustan Times newspaper.
[...]
"India has struggled in recent decades to end sati. While rare, the practice persists mainly in rural regions where widows are often shunned because of a belief they will bring bad luck and tragedy to the community.
[...]
"The Asian Age newspaper quoted the brothers as saying they had no idea sati was illegal and they regarded it as an act of honour."
And see:
liberal reformer Ram Mohan Roy writing against widow-burning in 1820
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