Posted on 09/18/2006 7:11:23 AM PDT by sully777
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The leaders of a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan ordered 150 men to dip their hands into boiling oil to prove their innocence after food was stolen from a local school, a newspaper reported Sunday.
In late August the school's principal informed police that rice and wheat had disappeared but no action was taken, the Sunday Express said.
The council, or panchayat, of Ranpur village, 340 km (210 miles) south of state capital Jaipur, then decided to take the law into its own hands.
After 10 days spent trying to identify those responsible, it issued what the paper called the "medieval diktat."
The 150 men from Ranpur and two neighboring hamlets were told to pick a copper ring from a cauldron of boiling oil. The council elders then announced that the 50 who refused the order must be behind the crime. Many are now nursing their burns.
"We would have been ostracized had we refused. Out of fear all of us agreed. This is not the first time this has been done," said one 45-year-old man. He has now testified against the elders, who have been arrested.
I wonder if they use this method for rapists?
Hold muh curry and watch this!
I wonder how many thieves stuck their hands in the oil to appear innocent, and how many innocent men didn't because it is essentially a punishment for a crime they didn't commit.
Maybe it's India's Fryers Club!
Reinforcing the wisdom of my un-formally educated, long dead, very insightful mother. "Ain't none of them foreigners got sense enough to wipe themselves."
Hehehe.
If this is how their local culture determines guilt and innocence, what right do a bunch of imperialist busybodies from New Delhi have to say otherwise?
Obviously the village elders are being oppressed and should be given immediate political asylum by the United States and resettled in Vermont.
The article states that the men were nursing their wounds. Boiling oil wounds are open wounds that need immediate medical attention.
Valuing the Warmth of Multiculturalism alert!
Please remember to apply tolerance to all cultural beliefs as you read this. Just because some societies have practices which we may consider quaint or diffucult to appreciate, it does not mean they are 'backward' or without value. All cultures are equal and worthy of respect.
The only 'backward' beliefs are those of the unenlightened flag-wavers who don't understand that America is primarily to blame for all the world's problems.
Maybe we should have an islamik punishment pi(n)g list. With all the websites redefining shariah, we need a compilation of the logic they employ in fighting crime.
India is made up of hundreds of religions. The article was not clear what religion was dominant in the region.
Which means that it's obviously the Methodists.
Looks like this one is Hindu.
Great insight of the mentality in the land of Dell support.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.