Phoolan Devi

Phoolan Devi
फूलन देवी
Member of Parliament (11th Lok Sabha)
In office 1996–1998
Constituency	Mirzapur
Member of Parliament (13th Lok Sabha)
In office 1999–2001
Constituency	Mirzapur
Personal details
Born	(1963-08-10)10 August 1963 Ghura Ka Purwa, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	25 July 2001(2001-07-25) (aged 37) New Delhi, India
Cause of death	Assassination by shooting
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Samajwadi Party
Spouse(s)	Putti Lal
Occupation	Dacoit (bandit), politician

Phoolan Devi (Hindi: फूलन देवी, Phūlan Dēvi) (10 August 1963 – 25 July 2001), popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian bandit and later a Member of Parliament. Born to a low caste family in rural Uttar Pradesh, Phoolan grew up in extreme poverty, was subjected to child abuse by her older husband, and upon becoming a social outcast, took to a life of crime.

While still a teenager, Phoolan was kidnapped by a gang of bandits, after the village headman had asked them to kill a 'troublemaker'. The gang members were shocked to see a young girl and refused to kill her. She had nowhere to go so she began living in the forest as one of the gang members. The leader of the gang and Phoolan eventually fell in love and got married. Her relationship with one gang member became a source of rancour, culminating in Phoolan's lover being shot in gunfight. Phoolan was then gang-raped by the rival faction. After her recovery she rallied gang members that she trusted and returned to Behmai, the village where she had been raped, to seek revenge. Twenty-two Rajput men were lined up and shot dead.

The press portrayed the Behmai massacre as an act of righteous lower-caste rebellion and Phoolan herself as an oppressed feminist Robin Hood-type figure. The respectful sobriquet 'Devi' was conferred upon her by the media at this point. Phoolan evaded capture for two years after the massacre, before she and her few surviving gang-members surrendered in 1983. She was charged with forty-eight crimes, including multiple murders, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom. After eleven years pending trial, the state government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party withdrew all charges against her, and Phoolan was released in 1994. She then stood for election to parliament as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and was twice elected to the Lok Sabha as the member for Mirzapur. In 2001, she was shot dead at the gates of her official bungalow (allotted to her as MP) in New Delhi by former rival bandits whose kinsmen had been slaughtered at Behmai by her gang. The 1994 film Bandit Queen is based on her life.