was totally shocked the other day as i sat and read the paper.having been born and brought up in the city,didn't even think that such cruel acts like SATI still exist in the villages of our country.
as recent as this year ,there have been two incidents of sati in north india.one of them just the other day on september 20th.a 95 year lady,Kariya Devi,jumped(rather was forced) into the pyre after her husband.this,with her sons carrying her and placing her into the burning fire!!!i also read that her 4 sons who abetted such a crime were arrested by the police.but is that justice enough for what happened?such barbaric customs still exist,i was shocked to know.and this was not the only instance.in august,a 50 year old lady committed sati.this was also witnessed by all and sundry in the village.totally,totally unimaginable in this day and society,don't u think?i mean,how barbaric and henious.
our government has also got in place a 'prevention of sati' act.but is this any use?we are sure to read soon enough that no case was made against kariya devi's sons.is this what we expect in free and independent india?
wikepedia defines Sati as a Hindu funeral custom, now very rare, in which the dead man's widow immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.
sati had it's origin in the 1800s.it almost died out by the time the mughals started ruling india.but stray incidents were always reported.the term is derived from goddess sati who immolated herself as she could not bear the humiliation her living husband was suffering.it was then twisted and turned by the scholarly and supposedly learned men of that time and came to stand for a custom in which a widow jumps into the funeral pyre of her husband.these men encouraged sati and thought it to be an exemplary conduct by a pious woman.this was not considered as suicide,but was considered as a selfless act and was said purge the couple of the sins that they may have accumulated in their life and also ensured that the couple would be together in the afterlife!!!!how bizzare.....who cares who u r with after u are dead?well thats whole new debate in itself!!
even our scriptures and vedas defend the practice of sati,they even call it an act of self defense.but is it really that?i wonder....
but till these kind of weird and inane practices become a thing of the past,and the mentalities of the people,the way we think etc.change,the treatment meted out to the widows of our country by these narrow minded people and their fate may not improve.....
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