Sampat Pal Devi was born in Uttar Pradesh, India in 1960. She was married at the age of 12 and is a mother of 5. At age 16 Sampat witnessed a man beating hiw wife in a North Indian village. She tried to convince him to stop and he attacked Sampat as well. If Sampat was not the leader she was, this story would have ended right there. However, she had a drive and ferocity that motivated sevral other women from the area to join her in teaching the abusing man a lesson. They punished him with a stick and made him publicly apologize for what he had done. She linked up with Jai Prakash Shivharey, who was a socialist activist, shortly after and created the Gulabi Gang. She went from a government worker to the leader of a movement much needed in India.

 

Just this last March, however, Shivharey ousted Devi at the age of 54 from the group because she claims that Devi supports congress and hasn't provided details for donations recieved to the gang. Sampat denies any wrongdoings and questions who even has the authority to remove her from her own group.