Phoolan Devi, popularly known as "Bandit Queen", was an Indian bandit and later a politician. After becoming estranged from her family, a young Phoolan became the moll of the leader of a group of a bandits. During an internecine struggle for gang leadership, her paramour was killed and Phoolan was raped. She then took up banditry in her own right and became the leader of a section of the divided gang. Devi's gang was responsible for the Behmai massacre of 1981, when 22 unarmed Thakur cast villagers, including two men who had raped her, were lined up in the village square and shot dead. The incident was characterized in the press, as an act of courage and righteous rebellion by an oppressed person. Phoolan was lionized as India's only woman bandit and gutsy low-caste-woman-underdog, and the image of an oppressed feminist Robin Hood grew up around her. Indian police authorities dismiss this view, pointing out that there is not even a single recorded instance of Phoolan having helped any person in need, and that all her crimes can be attributed to motives of personal revenge or enrichment. 

August 10th, 1963 in Jalaun  /  Died:   Jul 25th, 2001