‘The King against Papamma’ and Mankumari: Indentured Women, Mercy and the Death Penalty in Fiji 1897–1905

ABSTRACT This article examines the testimonies of two indentured Indian women, Mankumari and Papamma, who were sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Fiji for murdering their husbands in 1897 and 1905, respectively. While their paramours, Tulisiram and Krishnamma, were judicially executed, Mankumari and Papamma were shown mercy by the governors. Nestled within the backdrop of British colonialism and indenture, this article will fill a gap in the small body of scholarship on capital punishment in Fiji. It will focus on the intricate relationship between gender, ethnicity and law, in particular the authorities’ reluctance to judicially execute indentured women.