New Delhi, Aug 7

Police in Madhya Pradesh arrested 15 people on Wednesday for allegedly forcing a woman to burn herself to death by sitting on her husband's funeral pyre.

The woman's two sons, meanwhile, are to be charged with murder over Tuesday's incident, according to Savita Shoney, a local police officer.  Shoney told AFP that sweeping arrests were being made to get to the bottom of the "ugly incident" in which Kuttu Bai burned to death in Tamoli village in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district by committing the outlawed custom of sati.

"We have arrested 15 people so far. And we have registered a criminal case against Kuttu Bai's sons Ashok and Rajkumar Sen Nai. They will be facing murder charges," said Shoney.

"We suspect them of pushing their 65-year-old mother into this becausethey simply wanted to grab her property," she added.

Kuttu Bai's elder son Ashok Sen Nai is accused of lighting the pyre infront of several people, including her younger son.

Two policemen had rushed to Tamoli village after being tipped off by thevillage headwoman that an elderly woman in her village was about to commit sati, but the locals threw stones at the police and chased them away.

"We have already arrested some villagers for attacking our policepersonnel. Others are absconding but will face charges for obstructing justice."

Shoney added that around 40 policemen had been posted in Tamoli village to ensure that no one "tried to glorify" the incident.

"Sati has been outlawed and any attempts to glorify Tuesday's incidentwill be firmly quashed," she said. The last reported incident of sati was the death of 18-year-old Roop Kanwar, widow of Mal Singh, in the Rajasthan village of Deorala on September 4, 1987, which sparked national and international outrage.

Police charged Sumer Singh, Mal Singh's father, with forcing Roop Kanwar to sit on the pyre with her husband's body. Pushpendra Singh, his other son, was accused of lighting the pyre in front of several people. Kanwar's father-in-law and brother-in-law were both acquitted by a court in October 1996.

Following the Roop Kanwar case, India enacted legislation providing thedeath penalty for anyone abetting sati.