Smārthavichāram (meaning 'inquiry into the conduct'), was the trial of a Nambudiri woman and fellow male adulterers who were accused of illegitimate sexual relations.
If a Nambudiri housewife (antharjanam) was suspected of sexual misconduct then she was at first placed under restraint, and as a first step, her dāsi or.
If there is substantial evidence (sangayum thurumbum) on the antharjanam's sexual misdeeds, she is isolated to a special cell.
This can take up hours or even days depending on the severity of the case and until the woman accepts all allegations and becomes a sāthanam (an inanimate object).
A popular method was to pack the woman in a mat, like a dead body, and roll it from the housetop.
[5] The most sensational Smarthavicharam was the one in 1905 that involved Kuriyedath Thāthri, the wife of Chemmanthatta Kuriyedathu Rāman Nambūdiri of Mukundapuram Taluk.
[7] Some sources say that there were 65 accused men (jāran) and she was asked to name them and substantiate it by narrating their body marks.
[8].From the accounts of people who recount the tale, the Raja of Cochin stopped the trial since his name was next on her list.