In a shocking display of barbaric tribal traditions in Bihar, a middle-aged couple suspected of being in an illicit relationship was publicly tonsured, smeared with black paint, beaten up and paraded half naked in several villages by drum-beating, inebriated tribals in the name of justice.
Sajhli Devi, a 40-year-old mother of eight children, and her family’s long-time friend Hardev Mandal went through a three-hour torment at the hands of about 50 villagers of the Santhal tribe in the eastern Katihar district on Tuesday. The tribal villagers, apparently having little knowledge of the rule of law and little respect for it, decided to begin their punishment after seeing Mandal in Devi’s house in the morning. The man and the woman were tied up to poles with thick ropes and forcibly tonsured as per the resolution agreed upon in a hurriedly organised meeting of senior tribal villagers in Giriyama Adivasi Tola, who also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on the couple for “breaking the old law”. Black paint was smeared on the hapless couple’s faces and garlands of discarded flip-flops were put around their necks before they were beaten up.
With some TV cameras shooting this ordeal amid drumbeats, the couple was paraded in seven villages. Tearful appeals by Sajhli Devi’s daughters Munni and Soni to spare their mother fell to deaf ears. The procession went ahead and on for some three hours without anyone complaining till the police reached and forced it to stop. “This is tribal law. This is our way of punishment. This man and woman should not have broken the old law of society,” said Maranga Murmu, one of the tribals.