Joint statement by women's organisations in the matter of acquittal of accused in the Glorification of Sati cases of 1987
Tags: Sati, Acquittal, Rajasthan, Glorification of Sati
Related Issue: Right to Life, Gender Justice
CM Bhajan Lal, ensure that appeal be filed against the recent acquittals in the Glorification of Sati cases
Pursue appeal or any other remedy so that justice Is ensured.
Stop all efforts of promotion of Glorification of Sati
We women’s organisations who form a section of the women’s movement in the state and who have worked on the Sati (Bride Burning) case since the 4th September 1987, when 19 year old Roop Kanwar was forced onto the pyre of her husband, are not surprised that acquittal has come in yet another set of Glorification cases, filed in the aftermath of the Rajasthan Ordinance against Sati, 1987 and the Central Law called the Commission of Sati Prevention Act, 1987. We are very clear that delay in decisions by the judiciary as well as acquittal, only reinforce a culture of Sati Glorification.
It should be known that more than 17 people (we have the cases) were acquitted on 31st January 2004, including those cases which had erstwhile Health Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore, erstwhile Food and Transport Minister Pratap Singh Kachariywaas, senior leaders of the Sati Dharma Raksha Samiti and Rajput Sabha Bhawan Jaipur. The GOR law Department took a decision to not go in Appeal, the women’s organisations went pillar to post trying to see that the acquittal be challenged, as the trial was most slip shod and neither the Police, the prosecution or the Sati special court Judge in Jaipur, seemed to have done a fair job. It was a clear case for appeal. The CM MS. Vasundhara Raje, refused to budge from her position that this matter did not require any further legal pursuit.
With no other option, but to go ourselves to court, 14 organisations and individuals moved the Rajasthan High Court in a civil Writ petition, praying that the HC order an appeal against the 17 accused of the four cases of glorification. Our writs too have been pending for the last 20 years.
Successive Rajasthan Government, including the one led by Shri. Ashok Gehlot, also did not change their position which is obvious, as both parties did not wish to antagonise the Rajput vote bank and leaders of both sides were implicated in the case.
Since we cannot issue a press statement on merits, as the judgement is not in our hands as yet, we continue to have only one demand,
- that the present GOR, led by Sh. Bhajan Lal Sharma, should ask their law officers to file appeal in these cases. The Public Prosecutor of the special court has already made public statements. These cases should go in appeal within the stipulated 90 day period of filing an appeal to the appellate court.
- Pursue legal remedies in the 2004 cases, so that all those surviving of teh four cases are punished by law.
- Do not allow the promotion of the culture of Sati in the state, despite all efforts to break law
A second statement will be issued by us after we analyse the judgment and present the merits of appeal in the case.
We are,
- People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Kavita Srivastava)
- All India Democratic Women’s Association, Rajasthan (Sumitra Chopra)
- National Federation of Indian Women, Rajasthan (Nisha Sidhu)
4.Vividha, women’s documentation and Resource Centre (Mamta Jaitly)
- Rajasthan University Women’s Association (Dr. Lad Kumari Jain)
- All India Progressive Women’s Association (Manjula Sharma)
- Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Rajasthan (Komal Srivastava)
- National Muslim women’s welfare society, Jaipur (Nishat Hussain)
- Mehnatkash Sewa evam Sandharbh Samiti, Rajasthan (Mewa Bharti)
- Academy for Socio Legal Studies (Dharmeshwari)
- Women’s Rehabilitation Group (Renuka Pamecha)
- Women’s cell, Rajasthan Karmachari Sangh (Asha Kalra)
- Vishakha, Mahila Shiksha evam Shodh Sansthan. (Shabnam)
- Dr. Pawan Surana, former Chairperson state women’s commission