Sati versus Murder

Abstract

It is unfortunate that a measure of confusion has set in about the precise nature and ramifications regarding the immolation - whether self, sati, or otherwise of the 55-yearold Charan Shah on the funeral pyre of her husband at Satpura in Uttar Pradesh on November 11. It is even more unfortunate for believers in liberal discourse that frontline women's organisations, including the National Commission for Women, prominent feminist writers and other concerned citizens have spoken in discordant voices, further confounding an already murky situation.