Abstracts
Sati Was Not Enforced in Ancient Nepal	by	Jayaraj Acharya
The Daughters and the Hindu Rites	by	Bandita Phukan
Practical Steps Towards Saving the Lives of 25,000 Potential Victims of Dowry and Bride Burning in India	by	Himendra B. Thakur
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Abstract - Sati Was Not Enforced in Ancient Nepal
Sati, the ancient custom in the Hindu religion of a wife being burnt with her dead husband, does not seem to have been enforced in ancient Nepal, that is during the rule of the Licchavi dynasty (c. A.D. 300-879). In this paper, about 190 stone inscriptions from this period are considered. The only Licchavi inscription which has a reference to the sati system is the inscription of Manadeva I at the Changu Narayana temple in the north-eastern corner of the Kathmandu valley (A.D. 464). This inscription does not refer to the committing of sati but abstention from it. Moreover, out of the total 190, there are 18 stone inscriptions that were installed exclusively by widows during the Licchavi period. Of the 18 inscriptions of widows, only 3 were by members of the royal family. These are some instances that evidently indicate the abstention from sati, but there is not a single piece of evidence in any of the 190 inscriptions from the Licchavi period in Nepal that it was carried out.
Abstract - The Daughters and the Hindu Rites
This the account of Ms. Bandita Phukan. She is the first woman mechanical engineer in the state of Assam. When her father died in 1993, her relatives tried to find a son of a cousin to perform the last rites (Shraddha), because her father did not have a son. Bandita revolted, and asked the priest to permit her to perform the last rites. First, the priest refused. The last rites of a dead person can be performed only by a male member of the family, and never by a daughter. Bandita did not give up. At her insistence, a Brahmin priest came forward and allowed her to perform the last rites of her father. If married Hindu daughters could be allowed to perform the Shraddha cerimonies, concludes Phukan, their surviving parents would be happy to have "a dear daughter as eligible as their dear son."
Abstract - Practical Steps Towards Saving...
This paper offers an analysis of one of the remedies that could be suggested for dowry: young women should refuse to marry as soon as the groom's family asks for dowry. It gives statistics and examines: 1) the cases of dowry-deaths in India; 2) the geographical distribution of the concentration of dowry deaths per million Hindu population. In the last part of the paper, Thakur outlines three immediate, and a long-term solutions for women who refuse to marry because of the demand for dowry.
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