The police on Sunday claimed to have arrested a woman, Basanti Devi, for threatening to immolate herself to mark 100 years of Sati at Godavari Mata Temple in Sumel village, 200 km from here. However, the incident could not be officially confirmed.Policemen from the adjoining Raipur village said a crowd that gathered at the temple was lathicharged.According to eye-witnesses, Basanti Devi had threatened to immolate herself near the Sati temple, even though her husband was alive. Several persons have been arrested in this connection, sources said.‘‘The woman had left her house saying she would burn herself at a pyre. The police arrested her when she approached the temple,’’ the sources said.Folklore has it that a woman, who had committed Sati in the village about a century ago, had predicted recurrence of the incident a century later. Believing the forecast, thousands of villagers had gathered at the site on Sunday.
