suttee

n. act or practice of burning a widow on her husband's funeral pyre; widow that carries out such act; sati (Hinduism)

The practice of Satī (Devanagari: सती, the feminine of sat "true") (also suttee) is a Hindu funeral custom, now very rare, in which the widow would immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.The term is derived from the original name of the goddess Sati also known as Dakshayani, who immolated herself, unable to bear the humiliation of her (living) husband Shiva by her father Daksha. The term may also be used to refer to the widow herself. The term sati is now sometimes interpreted as 'chaste woman'.
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Noun
1. the act of a Hindu widow willingly cremating herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband
(hypernym) suicide, self-destruction, self-annihilation

(n.)
The act of burning a widow on the funeral pile of her husband.
  

(n.)
A Hindoo widow who immolates herself, or is immolated, on the funeral pile of her husband; -- so called because this act of self-immolation is regarded as envincing excellence of wifely character.
  

The former practice in certain patrilineal Hindu societies in India of a widow’s immolating herself on the pyre during the cremation of her spouse’s remains.