From The Burning Embers

“Sati” is an ancient Hindu custom in which a widow was burnt alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. Allthough this barbaric practice has been outlawed since 1829, it empted again in 1987 in Deovala village, Rajasthan, northern India where 18 years old Roop Kanwar was burnt alive. From the burning embers raises questions about human rights, and particularly the rights of women in India. It highlights not just the horror of Sati, but the greater horror of public support for what Roop Kanwar did or was made to do, and exposes the Indian government’s own ambivalence where this is concerned.