India Bans Widow Burning

In I988 India passed a law that made it a criminal offence to help anyone perform Sati, the ancient Hindu custom of a woman being burned alive on the funeral pyre of her dead husband. Witness has been speaking to Ranjana Kumari, who helped to push through the change in legislation.

(Photo: drawing from 1850 of an Indian woman practising the tradition of Sati in which she burns herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre. Credit: Getty Images.)