The death of Snehalata Mukhopadhyay in January 1914 remains one of the earliest & most widely discussed cases of dowry related suicides in colonial India. This article fills in the details of this case & attempts to understand why her name acquired iconic status in early 20th century Bengali society. The discourse about women’s agency in contemporary society is mapped to show how people read Snehalata’s suicide to talk about women’s roles in public life in new & often contradictory ways. (102 notes)