The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Shocking

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Monday, Mar 31, 2008
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Shocking

The torture and humiliation of Lalpari Devi, a 45-year-old Dalit, in a village in Patna by villagers suspecting her of witchcraft, are shocking. The inhuman practice of beating up and shearing the hair of women, accusing them of being witches, is a blatant abuse of human rights.

Rights cannot become hostage to superstitions, ignorance, and economic and social conditions. Such barbaric practices are a shame on the universal declaration of human rights and constitute a threat to democracy. It is the state’s responsibility to punish the perpetrators.

M. Mahaling,
Bangalore

Anyone who has seen the images of the incident should be petrified by the fact that crimes against women continue unabated. That the humiliating treatment was meted out to Lalpari because of the superstitious belief of a villager is shocking. Tying the helpless, defenceless woman to a tree, causing her injury and then subjecting her to disgrace by shearing her hair exposed incivility, cruelty, brutality and barbarity to the core. One should be thankful to the police who arrived in time to rescue the woman. Such acts of barbarism against human beings by human beings are condemnable, irrespective of the caste to which they belong. It is time the Centre addressed vigilantism in Bihar and put in place a system which puts the fear of the law in the people.

R.M. Manoharan,
Chennai

One wonders whether there is even a semblance of law and order in Bihar where the downtrodden are suppressed and oppressed in all conceivable ways. The Centre should have the outrageous incident investigated to instil a sense of security among Dalits.

P.K. Varadarajan,
Chennai

While the apparent reason given for the shocking incident is witchcraft, it reeks of caste oppression. Until we take some harsh steps towards eradicating caste discrimination, such incidents will continue to take place.

Akifuddin,
Bangalore

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