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Journalism of Courage
Sixteen years after the infamous Roop Kanwar case, a special Jaipur court dealing with sati cases on Saturday released all the 11 accused of ‘‘sati glorification’’ following the Deorala incident in Sikar district.
Many Rajput leaders, including BJP MLA Rajendra Rathode, Pratap Singh Khachariawas and Narender Singh Rajawat, were among the 11 released due to lack of evidence.
Giving the final judgment in four cases, the special court said there was no evidence to prove that the accused had glorified sati or made speeches in favour of the act. Further, the court stated that since the main case against Kanwar’s in-laws was not registered under the Sati Prevention Act and was being tried as a murder trial, the prosecution had failed to produce evidence indicating that Roop Kanwar became a sati on her husband’s pyre in September 1989.
The court added that since the act of sati had not been established, the question of glorification did not arise. Moreover, the glorification cases were registered before the Sati Prevention Act, which became law later and hence did not cover this case. ‘‘The Act was made in a hurry,’’ says defence lawyer Ghanshyam Singh Kaviya. ‘‘And technically all these cases were registered before the Act was formed.’’ In September, Deorala village hit the headlines when a young, educated woman died on her husband’s pyre. Kanwar’s in-laws were tried for murder and found not guilty by a court in Neem Ka Thana. The case then went for appeal and is now pending before Jaipur courts. The case proceedings were stopped in the middle when appeals were filed in different courts. Finally, on January 8, 2003, the SC directed the special court to finish the cases in six months.
