Inky
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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Oakland-ish
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 India's "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi, dead at age 37
Masked gunmen kill Bandit Queen
Indian MP and legendary former fugitive dies a lower-caste folk hero at 37
By MARK MACKINNON
With reports from Reuters and Associated Press
She lived a myriad of lives over her 37 years -- a poor villager, a child bride, a rape victim, an alleged mass murderer, a fugitive and finally a member of India's parliament.
But in death, Phoolan Devi, India's Bandit Queen, cemented her place as a lower-caste folk hero.
A Robin Hood-like idol to India's impoverished millions, Ms. Devi was gunned down outside her New Delhi home yesterday morning by masked gunmen, who shot her in the head and chest.
Police were unsure of the motive, although some noted that just weeks ago, Ms. Devi called India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party "corrupt and criminal" over its handling of tenders for development contracts. Her lawyer said Ms. Devi was threatened frequently in recent months, and had recently sought a permit to buy a firearm.
News of her death sent thousands of her supporters into the streets, expressing shock, then anger at police they say failed to protect their Bandit Queen. Markets closed down in protest, and police were on high alert.
Phoolan Devi, born into a family of boat people in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, began her march to legendary status at age 11, when her family sold her off to be the wife of a man three times her age.
Her husband assaulted her, the first in a line of incidents that she said culminated with her gang-rape at the hands of a group of upper-caste men in the village of Behmai. In another incident, an upper-caste man stripped her naked and paraded her through the village.
She got her revenge in 1981, when some allege she ordered the cold-blooded massacre of 22 upper-caste men in Behmai. Some of those killed were believed to have been her rapists.
Although she eventually served 11 years in prison for the attack, Ms. Devi never stood trial and always maintained her innocence.
She didn't, however, deny that she became a dacoit (gangster) after running away from her husband. Originally kidnapped by a gang, she eventually led her own band, becoming a media darling with her rob-the-rich exploits.
Her star dimmed after the murders, and she spent two years on the lam, roaming India's lawless ravines, her band dwindling as she hid from police.
Nonetheless, for many Indians, the lasting image of Ms. Devi is as a teenager on horseback clutching a double-barrelled shotgun, and wearing a signature red scarf.
Still illiterate when she was released on parole in 1994, Ms. Devi changed her stripes, marrying a rich businessman and winning election to the Indian parliament as a member of the predominantly lower-caste Samajwadi Party.
Although a brightly coloured sari replaced the battle khaki she wore while waging her class war, Ms. Devi's fiery temperament remained intact. Once, she threatened to set herself on fire in parliament unless the still-outstanding murder charges against her were dropped.
In a statement yesterday, Indian President K. R. Narayanan called Ms. Devi's assassination a "cowardly and gruesome act" and rained tributes on his political opponent.
"Her life was a story of rebellion and successful defiance against oppression and exploitation," he said. "Having braved the prejudices that an orthodox society heaps on a woman -- poor, backward and a social outcast -- she rose to become a member of parliament in her own right."
The lower House adjourned for the day upon hearing of the assassination.
The caste system, officially outlawed in India, is still a fact of life in many parts of the country. Yesterday, Amnesty International released a report that condemned continued discrimination against Dalits, the lowest group in the system. The report said Dalits continue to face torture, rape and extrajudicial executions because of their caste.
Some lower-caste Indians, particularly in Ms. Devi's home province, believed he was a goddess sent to deliver them from such discrimination. Others will always see her only as a cold-blooded killer.
"From bullet to ballot to bullet," one television news channel proclaimed yesterday.
Ms. Devi's life story, the controversial 1994 movie Bandit Queen, remains banned in India. Some thought it glorified the violence surrounding her life.
Still, the way Ms. Devi saw it, she played the hand life dealt her.
"What could I have done differently?" she once asked a reporter. "There was no other way, when the dacoits took me away and made me a dacoit. If I could do anything differently, I would not be born a girl in a poor family."
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Non Carborundum
[This message has been edited by Inky (edited 07-26-2001).]
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07-26-2001 08:51 PM
