Woman dies after jumping into husband's funeral pyre

A woman died after jumping into her husband's funeral pyre in Tulsipur village, about 80 km from Sagar, prompting authorities to launch a Magisterial probe when people dubbed the incident as an act of 'sati', officials said.

Janakrani, 45, jumped into the funeral pyre of her husband, Prem Narayan Gond, 58, last afternoon after family members had left the cremation grounds following completion of the last rites, they said. "Preliminary probe suggests that it was a case of suicide. She was alone when she jumped into the pyre", District Collector S S Shukla told PTI.

Dismissing it to be an act 'sati', he said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident and added that her family members were not aware of the act and no evidence of pressure exerted on her to take the dire step was found.

Janakrani could not bear the death of Gond, who was paralysed some time back, he said, Janakrani left her house on some pretext and her charred body was later found on her husband's pyre after a search was carried out by her family members and villagers, who later informed the police.

Senior officials have rushed to the spot with forensic team to collect evidence including the charred remains, police said.

The samples will be tested at a forensic sciences laboratory, and if necessary will also be sent to laboratories in Chandigarh and Hyderabad, Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sayeed Afsar said, adding preliminary interrogation of family members was over, but no case has been registered yet.