Sampat Pal Devi

Sampat Pal Devi is an Indian social activist from the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, North India.

[9] On 2 March 2014, Pal was relieved of her role at the head of the Gulabi Gang amid allegations of financial impropriety and putting her personal interests ahead of those of the group.

[5] Born to a poor Gadariya(Shepherd) , Sampat Pal Devi did not have a formal education and to worked in agricultural fields and farmland as a child, but was self-taught in reading and writing.

[11] One day, in a Northern Indian village, Sampat Pal Devi witnessed a husband ruthlessly beating his wife.

Due to witnessing ongoing incidents involving domestic violence as well as sexual oppression against women in the Banda District within Uttar Pradesh India, Sampat Pal Devi formally created the Gulabi Gang in January 2006.

[15] Pal Devi and other founding members believed that villages in India failed to educate them and coerced them into marrying young in oppressive marriages and family dynamics.

[19] Within an additional protest in 2008, members circled a Banda district office of electricity, where the village's power was cut off in exchange for bribes.

In one instance, the Gulabi Gang petitioned for a deteriorated road to be fixed, but an official spewed personal insults toward Pal Devi instead.

[23] Pal Devi believed that women should fight back against oppressive men by standing firm against those who abused or abandoned their wives.

Sampat Pal Devi once stated that the Gulabi Gang has a 100 percent rate of justice towards grievances of domestic violence.

[31] Jai Prakash Shivhare, the National Convenor for the Gulabi gang, stated that Devi had begun to wander from the group’s goals, that she had become obsessed with publicity, and that she had forgotten the purpose of its creation in 2006.

In her view, girls were historically subject to working in the fields and her school changed that, as she believed that education was important in shifting societal norms in India.

"[36] Women's financial liberty and security have been promoted by the Gulabi Gang, as they have instituted many small businesses where original and homespun products are crafted.

[37] A documentary was released in 2012 called Gulabi Gang, which displays the everyday conflicts and complexities that Pal Devi and these women face in India.

[39] Pal Devi made an additional media appearance in the Indian television reality series, Big Boss, where she participated with the principal aim of utilizing the large-scale platform to advance her core ideals and points of contact on the matter of women’s rights.