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Charan Shah decided to end her life on November 11, 1999 on her husband's funeral pyre. On that fateful day, while the men of the village were having a ritual bath at a nearby canal, Charan ran to the cremation site and jumped into the burning pyre.

The news spread immediately all over India. The media flooded the remote village of Satpura in Uttar Pradesh (in northern India) and questioned "did Charan Shah commit suicide or became a Sati?" At least initially, villagers from Satpura and the surrounding villages concluded that she had became a Sati (1) and were willing to sanctify her place of death as a Satisthal shrine. The village, which was hardly ever visited by outsiders, made the headlines and was flooded with visitors.

After questioning by police, the villagers, including Charan's brother, began to reconsider the initial assumption that she had become a Sati. If she had intended to become one, she would have told others of her decision. She would have been dressed as a bride and led to the pyre. The villagers told reporters that they were supportive of the Sati tradition and that in fact there had been genuine Satis in that region. They said that a genuine Sati's powers are visible from the start. Thus, they decided that Charan's act was not that of a Sati, and no Satisthal would be built at Satpura.

Why did Charan do it without anyone's knowledge? Learning more about Charan's life may shed some light on why this 53 year old Dalit (2) woman chose to die on her husband's funeral pyre. Charan's husband, Man Shah, suffered from tuberculosis for 30 years before he died. For all those long years Charan Shah took care of him, in a village more than 5 kilometers from the main road, with no health facility, no school, no electricity. Her hut was small, dark and full of flies. She had three children and several grandchildren. Her eldest son died two years before Man Shah. It is very likely that she had been a child bride when she married her husband.

Charan's family had a small piece of un-irrigated land which could not provide year-round sustenance to the family. Like most of the twenty families that constituted the village, they lived in utter poverty. Most likely, Charan was totally exhausted by selflessly caring for her sick husband under such conditions for 30 years. Then there was the prospect of becoming a widow. Given the miserable plight of widows in Indian society, it is likely that Charan found it preferable to end her life rather then survive her husband.

<-- A Sati temple in Jodhpur shows Sati hands, the prints of 30 maharanis who followed their husbands to death.

It is a shame that her death was even called an act of Sati by the media, villagers or anyone else. The institution of Sati is inhuman and to glorify it, as the religious orthodoxy does, is utterly disgraceful and deplorable. In the words of Swami Agnivesh, "Sati as an institution embodies the monstrosity engendered by the combination of patriarchy and religious orthodoxy. Patriarchy is male-centered, gender specific fascism. It defines the worth of women from the male perspective, arbitrarily and unilaterally. From this outlook, a woman is not entitled to a personality or life apart from her husband. It denies to women the right that even animals have, that of surviving the death of their masters."

Urban and rural India are like two societies with very little in common. The institutions of governance are dominated by the urban upper and middle class, which also absorb most of the country's resources. Charan's death brought attention, however short lived, to the life of suffering, degradation and subservience led by the rural poor, especially the poorest of them all, rural women.

It is possible for us to see Charan Shah's self-immolation as an act of defiance, of breaking out of the stranglehold of caste, conventions, patriarchy and poverty. There are millions of women who struggle to survive despite hunger, sexual abuse and anti-woman practices like Sati and dowry. Apart from certain indigenous women's groups, there is nobody to speak for them. They get very little attention from the government or from society at large. Charan Shah's self-immolation is a reminder of how poverty contributes to the sufferings of women.

1. Literally, true wife, one who willingly kills herself on her husband's funeral pyre. This practice was prevalent mainly among certain upper caste Hindu communities in India. Although illegal, it still occurs about once a year.
2. The caste formerly considered untouchable.

Saheli is an all-volunteer non-profit support and advocacy organization for Asian families in Austin, Texas. Saheli's mission is to help victims and survivors of domestic violence to heal, and empower them to make choices for a life free of abuse. We spread awareness of various forms of oppression against women and children through community outreach and education. We form a bridge between the Asian community and local services to cross the culture gap. Saheli's vision is to work toward preventing abuse in family relationships, to break the cycle of violence and pursue a cycle of peace. For more information about Saheli, visit www.main.org/saheli
To contact us call (512) 703-8745
or send e-mail to: saheli@usa.net

Opinions expressed in this column are those of the authors alone.

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