Re-Reading Smarthavicharam

Abstract

Smarthavicharam is a ritually sanctioned procedure of ostracizing an accused women from her Namboodiri community for sexual offences based on sankarasmrithi. With this article I would like to put forth the argument that the world hasn't moved much forward from the old smarthavicharam since the recent cases like the then celebrities swapna and saritha are the best examples. The cases won't be different in the future too.