The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1930, Page 102

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102

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

presence of five other prisoners and the official guard.
He is a splendid patient, submissive, orderly, and,
though he has suffered untold pain and agony, very
quiet and peaceful. May God shower upon this lost
sheep which now has been found the fullest power of
His all-sustaining mercy and keep him within His
fold now and forever !”

i

Self-Immolation in India.

Sampati Kuer was the daughter of Kesho Paney.
in Bernha, who died some ten or twelve years ago.
Shortly after her father’s death she was married to
Siddheswar. Yet she continued to abide under the
parental roof. But when Siddheswar was taken ill
‘a year ago last August, she came to him and nursed
him to the day of his death, November 21. The next
morning found the funeral gathering assembled in
an open shed within the compound of the local offi-
cial of Barh. The mourners had arrived during the
night and with the coming of day were to carry the
corpse to the incinerating-place on the Ganges, two
miles away. At five in the morning a policeman
happened by and noticed the widow seated beside the
‘corpse on the bier. He was informed that she was
a sati, a widow who devotes herself to incineration
together with the body of her husband. The officer
immediately proceeded to headquarters and notified
his chief of what was going on.

After making the necessary entry of facts in
his journal, the chief repaired to the shed to
remonstrate with the funeral company and what they
intended to do. When he found that all remonstrance
was in vain, he threatened to seize the corpse and
hold it until it had decomposed. This threat moved
the widow to forsake the bier. The funeral company
then proceeded with the corpse to its destination ;

the widow, however, together with her maid, her’

younger brother, and a few other relatives remained
behind.

After an interval a young man, returning from
the procession, gathered those who had remained be-
hind in an equipage and drove away with them. The
incinerating-place was their objective; but they
*were followed by the police and an ever-increasing
throng of people, the latter shouting with waxing
frenzy: “Sati Mata, ki jaj,” “Hail to the Mother
_ Sati!” Other relatives of the widow, leaving the
funeral company, joined themselves to her. Once
"more the police attempted to prevail on the leaders
__ and particularly on the widow to abandon the in-
“tended immolation. Sampati, however, insisted on

carrying out her original plan, that of being burned
as a true sati by the mysterious fire of the funeral
pyre together with the corpse of Siddheswar.
Meanwhile the procession was drawing nearer
and nearer to the shores of the Ganges and the
burning-place. The few officers, realizing their in-
ability to cope with the throng, retreated on the
station for assistance. Sixteen or seventeen police-
men now hurried to the spot of the intended rites,
arriving there as the funeral procession drew up.
They now strove with the leader, Raghu Singh, to
dispose of the corpse before Sampati and her follow-

A Young Hindu Widow.

ing could arrive.

not do this.
Another hour went by and Sampati’s equipage

drew up at the sacred spot. She alighted and

He declared he simply could

- immediately set about making preparations for her

part in what was to follow: she bathed in the waters
of the Ganges and garbed herself in the manner

which ancient Hindu custom prescribed for a satt,

her maid assisting and one of the assembly super-
vising every detail.

All preparations finished, she took her place on
the funeral pyre, concealing her left hand in her
gown as she did so. The corpse of her husband was
next placed in position on the wood of sacrifice, his
head resting in her lap. A moment later the flames
broke forth and enveloped her. Unable to bear the

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