Motilal Nehru (1861-1931), the father of former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had once defended 6 men who were accused of facilitating and abetting the burning of a woman on the cremation pyre of her husband (Sati Pratha).
As per a report by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) titled ‘Sati: How the fight to ban burning of widows in India was won,’ journalist Soutik Biswas informed that Motilal Nehru defended the 6 accused in a case in Uttar Pradesh in 1913.
“In a curious twist, Motilal Nehru, a lawyer-politician who joined the Indian National Congress and played a key role in the campaign for independence from British rule, appeared in court defending six upper-caste men in a case of Sati in 1913 in Uttar Pradesh,” the report read.
How the fight to ban burning of widows in India was won https://t.co/FiUxr2X3V0
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 24, 2023
The accused men had claimed that the pyre caught fire on its own by the sanctity of the deceased widow. However, the judges refused to buy their theory and held them guilty of abetment of suicide. They also reprimanded the 6 accused for their baseless argument and sentenced two men to prison for a span of 4 years.
“The men said the pyre had “ignited miraculously through the sheer piety of the widow”. Judges rejected the theory of divine intervention, deplored the cover-up and held the men guilty of abetting suicide – two of them were sentenced to prison for four years,” the BBC report added.
It must be mentioned that Sati was abolished in 1829 through the implementation of the ‘Bengal Sati Regulation Act.’ However, the legislation was diluted in the following and those found aiding in the immolation of a widow began to be charged with abetment of suicide instead of murder.
It was later in 1987 that Motilal Nehru’s great-grandson Rajiv Gandhi implemented the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act [pdf], which outlawed the glorification of Sati, and re-introduced the death penalty for abetment.
Sati is an obsolete practice where a widow would immolate herself on her husband’s pyre. Though the cases were rare, and never a mainstream practice, it was more prevalent in Calcutta in East India and among the Rajputs of Northern India. Raja Ram Mohan Roy had led a crusade against the Sati system, polygamy, and child marriage.
