BBC:
It was a case that made headlines globally and led to widespread condemnation.
A teenaged widow was burned on her husband’s funeral pyre under the Hindu practice of sati 37 years ago.
Now Roop Kanwar’s story has returned to headlines in India after a court acquitted eight men accused of glorifying her death, in the last of the remaining cases in the grisly saga.
Sati was first banned in 1829 by the British colonial rulers, but the practice had continued even after India’s independence in 1947. Kanwar is recognised as India’s last sati.
The outrage over her death forced the Indian government to introduce a tough new law – Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 – banning the practice and, for the first time, also its glorification. It mandated death or life term for those committing sati or abetting it. But over the years, everyone accused of involvement in Kanwar’s death and the glorification that followed has been cleared by courts.
Last week’s order has also led to outrage, with women’s organisations and activists expressing concern that no-one has been held accountable over her death.
Fourteen women’s groups in Rajasthan have written a letter to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal asking him to ensure the government challenges the order in the high court and also makes all attempts to prevent glorification of sati. Coming after such a long delay, these acquittals could “reinforce a culture of sati glorification”, they wrote.
A lawyer acting for the eight accused told BBC Hindi that they were acquitted because “no evidence was found against them”.
I asked Rajasthan’s Justice Minister Jogaram Patel whether the government planned to appeal the decision.
“We haven’t yet received a copy of the judgement. We will examine it on its merits and demerits and then decide whether to appeal or not,” he told me.
When asked about why the government hadn’t appealed the earlier acquittals, he said those cases had happened before his time and he was not aware of the details.
