Viral Post: ‘Paurush’ to Burn 11-Headed Surpanakha Effigy Instead of Ravan on Dussehra
Viral Post: 'Paurush' to Burn 11-Headed Surpanakha Effigy Instead of Ravan on Dussehra
Men’s rights group to highlight cases of women accused of killing husbands and children
This year’s Dussehra in Indore will see a striking departure from tradition. Instead of the customary burning of Ravan’s effigy, a giant 11-headed effigy of Surpanakha — Ravan’s sister — will go up in flames. The event, scheduled for October 2 at Mahalaxmi Nagar Mela Ground, is being organized by Paurush, a group advocating for men who claim to be victims of abuse by their wives.
Each of the effigy’s 11 heads will bear the face of a woman accused or convicted in high-profile cases of killing their husbands or children. At the centre will be Indore’s Sonam Raghuvanshi, charge-sheeted earlier this year for allegedly plotting the murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya.
Other faces will include Muskan Rastogi (Meerut), accused of killing her husband with her lover’s help; Harsha Padiyar (Indore), charged with abetting her husband’s suicide; Ravita Kashyap (Meerut), accused of strangling her husband; and Hansa Patel (Dewas), allegedly involved in her husband’s murder.
The effigy will also feature women accused in other notorious cases, including Suchna Seth, a Bengaluru tech entrepreneur accused of killing her four-year-old son in Goa; Priyanka Savita of Auraiya, convicted of murdering her three children; and others such as Shashi Devi (Firozabad), Nikita Singhania (Jaunpur), Sushmita Dev (Delhi), and Gudiya Devi (Mumbai).
According to organizer Ashok Dashora, posters and banners have already gone up across Indore inviting people to the first-of-its-kind “Surpanakha Dahan”. “The message is clear, evil must be destroyed, whether it takes the form of Ravan or modern-day Surpanakhas. Ravan symbolized evil in his time, but today, these crimes remind us that women too can represent destruction,” Dashora said.
The effigy will be taken in a procession before being set on fire at 6:30 pm on Dussehra.
