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.

The self-immolation by Charan Shah on the funeral pyre of her husband in a remote hamlet in Mahoba district in Uttar Pradesh has elicited a spate of articles dealing with the practice of Sati. Of these, a number of articles by Ms.

Every year, as millions of women marry, they dream of starting a family, of having their homes filled with tiny cries and the happy laughter of gurgling babies. In India however, pregnancy is too often followed by the question of
whether the unborn child is a girl or a boy.