Sad but true; Sati still plagues the country

I came across this story in Deccan Herald :

Woman’s attempt to become ‘sati’ aborted
Police on Sunday aborted the attempt of a woman to become ‘sati’ by burning herself along with the body of her husband in Uttar Pradesh, reports PTI from Lucknow.

Vidya Devi 59, had made all preparations to consign herself to the flames of husband’s pyre when the police stopped her from doing so. Deen Dayal Lodhi 60,(her husband) had died due to a prolonged illness on Saturday.

What pinches me is that on one hand we have the Metro, the malls, the airconditioned buses and on the other hand : nothing. We are continuously working towards the betterment of our urban areas, giving all that we can to come at par with the facilities in foreign countries.
But we seem to be inching closer to development but at the same time, farther from overall development.
The villages in India are still plagued by social evils, superstitious beliefs and malpractices in the name of faith and religion. If something like Sati, which has been the society's enemy for centuries, still persists, we must set our priorities right.
Equal weightage must be given to urban and rural development. Fighting the ills in the rural areas should not be neglected even by mistake. Only this way will our country have a strong foundation and then have innumerable storeys - thus, achieving greater heights.