generalspeaking

The Atrocity Of Blighted Ignorance

It is hard beyond difficult to believe that such ignorant savagery exists. The ancient Aztecs, among other early primitive cultures going back beyond and to the Biblical era, practised human sacrifice. But one is forgiven for believing that such horribly atrocious practises could no longer exist in the modern word - only to discover that there are those in geographic areas of the world who do not inhabit the 21st Century, but linger in the 5th Century.

Two Hindu farmers living in a remote village in the state of Chhattisgarth in central India, had an interpersonal grievance with another farmer in their village of Jailwara. They undertook to abduct that farmer's seven-year-old daughter, Lalita Tati. She was sitting in the home of a neighbour, alone, watching television when the abduction took place.

Her worried family had no idea where she was, what had become of her. The two farmers who abducted the child suspected that her father was practising black magic, and was responsible for their poor crops. They determined they would sacrifice the little girl ritually, and the result would be that they could look forward to a bumper harvest.

They slit the little girl's throat, offering her organs to a Hindu goddess, whom they hoped would accommodate them by blessing their harvest. It was local legend that crops would flourish if a victim under twelve years of age was sacrificed to the goddess. When the body of the child was discovered local police treated it as a rape and murder, suspecting her own father.

When her parents saw their daughter's mutilated body they discovered her heart and liver to be missing. The sacrificial organs. The farmers who murdered the child wrote to the father, confessing what they had done, and offering him compensation for her death in cash. The village became involved and the police informed.

"My daughter was very close to my heart. Her murder shocked us and our whole family has not got over it. I want to see these criminals rotting in jail. these men have robbed my whole family."

The legendary belief in the efficacy of human sacrifice is not restricted to a small corner of a remote province in India. It extends across a number of states. Understandably, generally poor, illiterate "tribal" people are those who believe in it, and who practise the horror, along with their faith in witch doctors and curses.

But bear in mind also that these are people however remote the areas where they live, where there are modern amenities available to them such as television. How such primal, evil beliefs can co-exist with modern technology and presumably exposure to the world at large through the prism of entertainment and education, tests a belief in human intelligence.

Labels: Heritage, Human Fallibility, India

posted by Pieface @ Monday, January 09, 2012