Religous Origin of the Practice of Burning Women at the Funeral Pyre Called Sati

Previously published in Examiner

Part 2 of the women burning alive series

Most Montrealers think that burning Indian women to death is an archaic practice that no longer exists in India. The horrible practice is still going on in some areas even though the practice is outlawed. Many women still loose their lives yearly due to this barbaric heinous act. On the other hand, Montreal activists and activists all over the world lobby to put pressure on the Indian government to protect the lives of these innocent women from burning alive.

Origin and Prevalence of Sati today

Cases of Sati have been reported as late as 2006 as reported by BBC News and has caused a lot of controversy throughout India. Then on October 11, 2008, a 75-year-old woman committed sati by jumping into her 80-year-old husband's funeral pyre at Checher in the Kasdol block of Chhattisgarh's Raipur district

Religious significance

Sati means virtuous woman and a woman that commits Sati, by burning to death on her husband's funeral pyre is the most virtuous of all. Any woman committing Sati was believed to go directly to heaven while redeeming all her forefathers from rotting in hell. The act of a martyr or savior would be befitting to describe this sacrifice. Though traditional, not all peoples of India practiced this tradition, it was mostly a practice of certain cults or sectors of society. "Ibn Batuta (1333 A.D.) had observed that Sati was considered praiseworthy by the Hindus, without however being obligatory. The Agni Purana declares that the woman who commits sahagamana goes to heaven. However, Medhatiti pronounced that Sati was like suicide and was against the Shastras, the Hindu code of conduct.

It is believed that women were not coerced, although several wives committed Sati. The majority of the widows did not undergo Sati. "It was also estimated that certain areas such as Bengal and the region of Rajasthan had the highest incident of Sati.

For help with domestic violence and other Hindu women's issues in Montreal, there is:

SAW Community Center: one of Canada's oldest surviving South Asian women's groups, helps victims of domestic violence. 1035 Rachel, 3rd Floor, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2J 2J5. (514) 528-8812, fax (514) 528-0896. Email: sawcc@cam.org

Click here for additional sources for Indian Women in Montreal

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_%28practice%29http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5273336.stm