Roop Kanwar

Roopkuvarba Kanwar (c. 1969 – 4 September 1987) was a Rajput woman who was allegedly forced to immolate herself in an act of Sati at Deorala village of Sikar district 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 age 24, and had no children.

Roop Kanwar was burnt alive on the funeral pyre of her husband.

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 such horrors, then the central government's Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act.

Initial official records and eyewitness accounts provided by friends, family and villagers testify that Roop Kanwar's act of sati was a voluntary choice.

Some news reports claim Kanwar was forced to her death by other attendees present.

The original inquiries resulted in 45 people being charged with her death.

On 31 January 2004 a special court in Jaipur acquitted all of the 11 accused in the case.

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.

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 a abetting suicide.

Eventually, 11 people, including state politicians, were charged with glorification of sati.