Bihar woman commits 'Sati'

GAYA: A septuagenarian woman was claimed to have committed 'sati' by jumping on the funeral pyre of her husband at a village in this district of Bihar.

77-year-old Sita Devi reportedly performed the now abolished 'sati' by flinging herself on the pyre of her husband Sugreev Prasad at Siddhpur village under Imamganj police station on Friday, her sons and co-villagers told reporters.

However, the concerned Block Development Officer and local police station, when contacted, said they had no such information.

Sita's sons Ramashanker and Sanjay Prasad said their mother, who was deeply religious, left the house unnoticed on Friday night when the family members were asleep after cremating their father.

She walked to the cremation ground, about one km from the house, where she took her life by jumping on the still burning pyre of her husband.

The matter came to light the next morning when not finding Sita Devi in the house they began looking for her. In the meantime, some villagers informed her sons that they had sighted the badly charred body of their mother on the pyre.