Seema Parihar

Seema Parihar is a former woman bandit and a member of Indian political party, Samajwadi Party. She faces charges on 29 counts of murder and kidnapping and is hoping to be elected to represent a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh for India's Lok Sabha, or lower house of Parliament.^[1]

Inspiration: Seema Parihar claims that her inspiration is The former Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi. Phoolan Devi also became a member of parliament in 1996 after a long career of Bandit and was later murdered in Delhi by an upper caste Hindu while still serving as an MP in 2001. "I want to carry forward the legacy of Phoolan Devi," Ms Parihar told the BBC.^[2]

Popular culture

1. Movie: Seema Parihar played herself in movie Wounded - The Bandit Queen. This movie is the first instance of Hindi cinema where a 'bandit queen' played out her own real-life story on screen. Shot on location in the Chambal Valley, film was released in 2006. The film went on to win the Critics Award at the Leicester Expo Film Festival (United Kingdom) in 2005.^[3]
2. TV: Seema Parihar also participated in Bigg Boss (season 4) in 2010 (4th season of the Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss). This show aired on Colors (TV channel) from October 3, 2010 and Seema was evicted on day 76 (week 11) from the house.^[4] Before participating in Bigg Boss (season 4), Seema Parihar was in jail and filed a petition in Allahabad High Court seeking permission to appear in Bigg Boss (season 4). Allahabad High Court initially rejected her plea to appear in Bigg Boss (season 4).^[5]

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