Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Phoolan Devi
Phoolan Devi[edit]
Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Indian dacoit (bandit) who later became a politician. She was a woman of the Mallah subcaste who grew up in poverty in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where her parents lost a land dispute. After being married off at the age of eleven and being sexually abused by various people, she joined a gang of dacoits which robbed higher-caste villages and held up trains and vehicles. When she became its leader, she punished her rapists and evaded capture by the authorities, making her a heroine for the Other Backward Classes. She was charged in absentia for the 1981 Behmai massacre, in which twenty Thakur men were executed, allegedly on her command. After this event, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh resigned, and calls to apprehend her were amplified. She surrendered two years later and spent eleven years in Gwalior prison awaiting trial, then was released in 1994 after her charges were set aside. She was subsequently elected as a member of parliament for the Samajwadi Party in 1996. She lost her seat in 1998 and regained it the following year; she was the incumbent in 2001, when she was assassinated outside her home in New Delhi. Her worldwide fame had grown after the release of the controversial 1994 film Bandit Queen, which she did not approve of. There are varying accounts of her life because she told differing versions to suit her changing circumstances. (Full article...)
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- Main editors: Mujinga
- Promoted: November 18, 2023
- Reasons for nomination: Marks date of death
- Support as nominator. Mujinga (talk) 20:52, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
- @Mujinga: this has 1,440 characters, wayyyyy above the recommended limit, which is between 925 and 1025 characters. Reduce this. 750h+ 08:01, 11 May 2024 (UTC)
For image, ideally we'd like the person, but it appears copyrighted. But how about the image of Seema Biswas portraying her in the film Bandit Queen instead? It's an actress portraying that person so it's better than nothing. Harizotoh9 (talk) 04:59, 15 May 2024 (UTC)