Roop Kanwar

Roopkuvarba Kanwar (c. 1969 – 4 September 1987) was a teenage Hindu Rajput widow in India who was burned on her husband's funeral pyre in an act of Sati^[1][2][3] at Deorala village in Rajasthan, India. At the time, she was 18 years old and had been married for eight months to Maal Singh Shekhawat, who had died a day earlier at the age of 24.^[4] They had no children. The crowd which witnessed her death approved of the act and regarded it as willing, although contemporary news reports said that she was coerced or too mentally unhealthy to be culpable. Her death prompted public debate in India over the practice of Sati.^[5] Roop Kanwar's death led to changes in both state and national laws to prevent sati and to prohibit its glorification. Although 45 people were charged for her death, by 2024, all had been acquitted.^[6]

Roopkuvarba Kanwar
Born	c. 1969
Died	4 September 1987 (aged 18) Deorala, Sikar district, Rajasthan, India
Nationality	Indian
Known for	Sati
Spouse	Maal Singh

Death

On 4 September 1987 Roop Kanwar was burnt alive on the funeral pyre of her husband.^[7] Several thousand people attended. After her death, Roop Kanwar was hailed as a sati mata – a sati mother, or pure mother. The death quickly produced a public outcry across various parts of the country. It led first to state level laws to prevent the practice and glorification of sati, then the central government's Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act^[8] in 1988, and banning, for the first time, also the glorification of the practice.^[6]

News reports

The incident came to the notice of authorities following a shortage of coconuts. The villagers glorified this act (of sati) and started offering coconuts to her at her place of death; this caused a shortage which raised a red flag to revenue officials.^[9]

Initial official records and eyewitness accounts provided by friends, family and villagers testified that Roop Kanwar's act of sati was a voluntary choice.^[10][11] Some news reports claim Kanwar was forced to her death by other attendees present.^[4]

Charge sheet

The original inquiries resulted in 45 people being charged with her death. As of 2019, 25 of these people were acquitted in November 2004, six are no longer alive, five were declared as absconders and nine are facing trial.^[2] A much-publicised later investigation led to the arrest of a large number of people from Deorala, said to have been present in the ceremony including Roop’s father-in-law Sumer Singh, and three other relatives on charges of murder and abetting suicide.^[1]

Eventually, 11 people, including state politicians, were charged with glorification of sati. On 31 January 2004 a special court in Jaipur acquitted all of the 11 accused in the case.^[12] On 10 October 2024, the remaining 8 people were acquitted.^[13]