Deorala

The victim was a well-educated 18-year-old woman named Roop Kanwar, who was a resident of the village and whose husband, Mal Singh Shekhawat, had died of disease the previous day. While many details remain unclear, many claim that she took the decision to follow the ancient custom and died on the funeral pyre of her husband, while the general feeling is that she was forced by the villagers onto the pyre, perhaps after having been given some sedatives.

After she had burnt to death, the place was converted into a memorial and thousands of people from surrounding regions started visiting it, though afterwards the area was sealed in order not to promote sati as a legitimate action, and to prevent similar incidents happening in the future.

Although family members and others were arrested following this incident, they were acquitted.[2][3] Many are not fully satisfied with the judgement.[4] Women's organizations pressurized the government to reopen the case [5]

Publications such as Outlook Magazine have highlighted positive developments from the village, such as election of a women sarpanch to highlight the change in people's perception of women's place in the society [6]

The village population is over 9,000.