Roop Kanwar
Roopkuvarba Kanwar (c. 1969 – 4 September 1987) was a Rajput woman who immolated herself in an act of Sati at Deorala village of Sikar district in Rajasthan, India. At the time, she was 18 years old and had been married for eight months to Maal Singh Shekhawat, who had died a day earlier at age 24, and had no children. Death Several thousand people attended. After her death, Roop Kanwar was hailed as a sati mata – a sati mother, or pure mother. The murder quickly produced a public outcry in urban centres. The brutal killing led first to state level laws to prevent such horrors, then the central government's Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act. News reports Initial official records and eyewitness accounts provided by friends, family and villagers testify that Roop Kanwar's act of sati was a voluntary choice. Some news reports claim Kanwar was forced to her death by other attendees present. Charge sheet The original inquiries resulted in 45 people being charged with her death; these people were acquitted. A much-publicized later investigation led to the arrest of a large number of people from Deorala, said to have been present in the ceremony, or participants in