In MP village, sati allegations cloud woman’s death

Last Friday, even as her husband’s body was being taken to the cremation ground, Mithilesh Kumari locked herself in a room and set hers...

Last Friday, even as her husband’s body was being taken to the cremation ground, Mithilesh Kumari locked herself in a room and set herself afire. She had talked of committing sati but had been stopped by relatives, and reminded of her two small daughters, two and four.

But with the recent incident of 65-year-old Kuttu committing sati in nearby Panna still fresh on everyone’s mind, it was easy to believe Mithilesh had done the same. However, there is little evidence in this village that what happened was not suicide by a woman afraid of a future without her husband but an extreme step by a woman forced out of superstition.

The administration is careful not to rule out any suggestion of sati. But the villagers are unanimous that nothing like this happened, perhaps one reason being that she belonged to the upper-caste Thakur family and few would like to cross their path. Says Rillan Ahirwar. ‘‘If she was a sati, she would have known of her husband’s death in advance.”

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‘‘While the men accompanied the body to the cremation ground, she was taken to the house…Suddenly she got up and locked herself inside the house. Before anyone realised what was happening, she had poured 10 liters of kerosene over her body and set herself afire. She was already dead when people got to her.’’

Ask him if Mithilesh committed sati, and her brother-in-law Santosh says: ‘‘No, I heard nothing about sati, no question of such a thing.’’

The only case now is against three Adivasis who were using naked wires to tap power illegally, and who face arrest for causing Uttam’s death due to electrocution.