 Sati refers to a funeral ritual within some Asian communities in which a recently widowed

woman immolates herself, typically on the husband's funeral pyre.

 Mention of the practice can be dated back to 4th century BCE. While evidence of practice
only appears from the 5th - 9th centuries CE. Practice is considered to have been originated
within the warrior aristocracy on the Indian subcontinent, gradually gaining in popularity from
the 10th century CE to other groups and becoming generally sanctioned/recommended by the
doctrines around the 12th century CE.
 With the military expansions outside of Indian subcontinent, the practice has been attested to
have been practiced in a number of localities in Southeast Asia, such as at Indonesia.

 The practice was outlawed by the British Raj in 1829 within their own territories in India (the
collected statistics from their own regions suggesting an estimated of 500–600 instances of sati
per year), followed up by laws in the same directions by the authorities in the princely states of
India in the ensuing decades, with a general ban for the whole of India issued by Queen
Victoria in 1861.
 Purdah is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some
Muslim communities.
 It is the practice of preventing men from seeing women.
 This takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that
women cover their bodies so as to cover their skin and conceal their form.

 Physical segregation within a building is achieved with judicious use of walls, curtains,
and screens. A woman's withdrawal into purdah restricts her personal, social and
economic activities outside her home. The usual purdah garment worn is a burqa, which
may include a veil to conceal the face. The eyes may be exposed.

 Purdah was rigorously observed where women had to observe complete purdah at all
times when they were in public. Only close male family members and other women
were allowed to see them out of purdah.

 Among some married Hindu women in rural north India, a form of purdah, the
ghoonghat, is observed in the presence of older male in-laws or in familiar public spaces
where there is a likelihood of meeting them. It is not observed more generally in
unfamiliar public spaces. It is not observed among Hindu women elsewhere in India.
 WHAT IS IT?
In India, dowry is the payment in cash or some kind of
gifts given to a bridegroom's family along with the bride.
Generally, they include cash, jewelry, electrical
appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and
other household items that help the newlywed set up her
home.
ITS IMPLICATIONS !
It has been cited as one of the reasons for families and women in India resorting to sex
selection in favor of sons. This has distorted the sex ratio of India (940 females per
thousand males) and may have given rise to female foeticide.