She Lives

This is a picture of Roop Kanwar. She was just eighteen years old when she was burned alive on the funeral pyre with husband in 1987. Still, her spirit lives on in the people who remember her, who don't ever want to forget her, and who won't give up telling her story in the hope that women's basic human rights are recognized and respected.

Long ago while in India I read the breaking news of her supposed sati in an English language newspaper. Her story shook my world and eventually became the inspiration for my novel "One River."

Now, 37 years later in October of 2024, the last eight people charged with glorifying her sati were acquitted. No one has been held responsible in the courts for her death or for the glorification of sati that followed it. Both are illegal.

The struggle for women's rights continues throughout our world. Read more about Roop Kanwar in this BBC article. And, please, do not forget her.

Sati: Why India widow-burning case is back in news after 37 years (bbc.com)