Divrala is a village in the

Sikar district Sikar district is a district of the Indian state Rajasthan in northern India. It is a part of the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. Rao Daulat Singh laid down the foundation stone of Thikana Sikar in 1687. District Collector of Sikar is Shri Mu ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Divrala is a village in the

Shekhawati Shekhawati is a region in the northern part of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan, comprising the districts of Sikar, Jhunjhunu, and Churu district, Churu. The language of this region is also called Shekhawat ...

region. It is located near Amarsar which was the capital of Maharao Shekhaji, precursor of all Shekhawat rajputs. It is also called Deorala and Divrala. It became infamous because of the Sati incident that took place on 4 September 1987.

Sati

The victim of the Sati incident was of an educated 18-year-old woman named

Roop Kanwar Roopkuvarba Kanwar ( c. 1969 – 4 September 1987) was a teenaged Hindu Rajput widow in India who was burned on her husband's funeral pyre in an act of sati at Deorala village of Sikar district in Rajasthan, India. At the time, she was 18 yea ...

, who was a resident of the village and whose husband, Mal Singh

Shekhawat Shekhawat is a sub-clan of Kachwaha Rajputs found mainly in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan tracing their descent from a common ancestor, Maharao Shekha, a prominent ruler who lived in the 15th century. History The Shekhawat Rajputs trace ...

, 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. Many are not fully satisfied with the judgement. Women's organizations pressurized the government to reopen the case

Positive developments

Publications such as Outlook Magazine have highlighted positive developments from the village, such as election of a woman

sarpanch A sarpanch, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...

to highlight the change in people's perception of women's place in the society Showing The Way In Deorala http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?204912

Population

The village population is over 14,000.

References

{{reflist Villages in Sikar district