Citation

Mehra V. Am. J. Forensic Psychiatr. 2007; 28(1): 21-28.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American College of Forensic Psychiatry, Publisher R. Shlensky)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

"Sati" (aka suttee) is the Indian practice of a widow, after the death of her husband, committing suicide on her husband's funeral pyre. This ancient tradition, although rare, has existed in India for centuries, but has been outlawed since 1829. However, in spite of this, there have been reported incidents of sati as recently as 2002. Using this act as an example, interesting forensic issues are brought forth, namely, the challenge to determine an individual's competency to commit suicide. This also forces one to consider powerful cultural factors and personal biases that may influence an evaluator striving to make an objective assessment of another individual's competency. Copyright 2007 American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; evaluation; forensic medicine; society; bereavement; review; history; cultural factor; religion; mental capacity; psychiatric diagnosis; widow; Indian; cultural bias; legal competence