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Sati practice in India

Sati is a historical practice, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre.This practice is among Hindu communities where a recently widowed woman, either voluntarily or by force, immolates herself on her deceased husband's pyre.

Use of force for immolation has been narrated in several accounts where the widow appears to have been drugged either with bhang or opium and was tied to the pyre which would have prevented her from escaping the fire, if she changed her mind or acted on the the natural reflexes.


Measures to uproot this practice during Mughal Period


Painting depicting
Scene of Sati Ritual
Sati was regarded as a barbaric practice by the Islamic rulers of the Mughal period

In 1582, Akbar issued an order to prevent any use of compulsion in sati.

Aurangzeb issued another order in 1663, "in all lands under Mughal control, never again should the officials allow a woman to be burnt".






Measures to uproot this practice during Colonial Period 

It was first banned in 1515 by Portuguese in Goa, and then was by Dutch in Chinsura and French in Pondicherry







Raja Ram Mohan Roy had a significant role in campaigning against the Sati Practice. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first Indian in the British era to protest from against this custom.

In 1811 Raja Ram Mohan Roy witnessed his brother’s widow being burned alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. Three years later he retired and concentrated on complaining against the practice of woman dying as Sati.


The Bengal Sati Regulation which banned the Sati practice in all jurisdictions of British India was passed on December 4, 1829 by the then Governor-General Lord William Bentinck.

Sir Charles Napier was against Sati Practice, during his stint in Sindh he threatened the Hindu priests with death penalty by hanging if they presided over practice of sati. 

Measures to uproot this practice during Post Independence

Indian Government brought in the act  Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, criminalizing the aiding or glorifying of Sati.

The trigger for "Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987, was due to Roop Kanwar case.

Roop Kanwar (18) became a sati on 4 September 1987 in Rajasthan
Roop Kanwar








Roop Kanwar was a rajput woman who was immolated on 4 Sep 1987, a day after her husbands death. This incident happened in Deorala Village of Sikar District in Rajasthan. She was aged 18 then and was married since 8 months when her husband died. Thousands of people attended the funeral and immolation. Some news reports claimed that she was forced to immolate.






 "I am against forcibly committing sati, but if a woman wants to do it voluntarily, the government should not stop it"

Rup Kanwar's brother Gopal Singh Shekhawat

[quoted by Nav Bharat Times on 5/Sep/2019]


Summary

  1. "Bengal Sati Regulation" was passed on December 4, 1829
  2. "Bengal Sati Regulation" was passed Governor-General Lord William Bentinck
  3. Mughal kings wanted to were against Sati Practice, but failed to curb or ban it
  4. First ban on Sati practice was by Portuguese in Goa year 1515 
  5. Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against the Sati Practice
  6. Govt. of India brought "Sati (Prevention) Act" in 1987 
  7. Roop Kanwar case was the trigger to bring "Sati (Prevention) Act" in 1987 





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