About The Author
This article is written by Alakananda S Anil, 4th year BA.LLB, student of Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram.
Key words: Religious killings – Religious Violence – Virgin Sacrifice – Child Sacrifice – Article 21 – Right to Life – Violence against women, children and depressed classes
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori’ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” – Gen. 22 Verses 1 to 19
Religious killings and Religious Violence are two well-attested and much mythologised phenomena of Human Society.Whether it is in Hinduism, Christianity or Islam, there are instances of religious killings and religious violence. Mainly women, children and lower castes are used for sacrifice. During wars, kings used to perform Human Sacrifice for their victory, In some adaptations of Mahabharatha, it is stated that Iravan, the son of Arjuna, one of the greatest warrior of that era was sacrificed before the kurukshetra war by the Pandavas to please their idol of worship so that they can emerge as victorious.
[1]With modern civilization and the rise in literacy, cases of human sacrifice are rarely encountered by forensic practitioners.[2]Human sacrifice, also called ‘Narabali’ in India, involves an act of deliberately killing an individual due to ritualistic beliefs for the appeasement of the Gods, spirits, or ancestors. [3]Human sacrifice and ritual murder are often considered synonymous, but ritual murder further involves offering the body part to the deity after killing. Diverse methods were historically adopted for human sacrifice across the globe, strongly influenced by their superstitious, religious, and cultural beliefs. Cases of human sacrifice mostly involve children, but there are cases of human sacrifice involving adult victims.
VIRGIN SACRIFICE
In many cases, virgin girls are offered to please the deity.[4]Greek mythology gives many examples related to virgin sacrifice. Most of the victims were of noble birth and they were sacrificed by the king to ensure victory in war. Virgin Sacrifices are usually young female, conventionally-attractive, pure-minded, and sometimes raised from birth to accept—even celebrate—their honored position as Virgin Sacrifice. If not, then they’re usually a Love Interest or a member of the heroes’ party (In novels) who got kidnapped and carted away for sacrificial purposes.[5]In ancient Japan, legends talk about hitobashira (“human pillar”), in which women were buried alive at the base of or near some constructions to protect the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks.
[6]In the aftermath of the War against the Midianites narrated in Numbers 31(a part of old testament), the Israelites appear to be dedicating 32 captive Midianite virgin girls to be sacrificed to Yahweh (God) as his share in the victory of the war.
SLAVES & HUMAN SACRIFICE
There were many practices across the globe in which the slaves were forced to sacrifice their life to meet their masters’ needs. In ancient Egypt, the king after his death was accompanied by his favorite servants and courtiers who would serve the king in his afterlife.[7]Servants of both royalty and high court officials were slain to accompany their master in the next world.[8]The number of retainers buried surrounding the king’s tomb was much greater than those of high court officials, however, again suggesting the greater importance of the pharaoh. For example,[9]King Djer had 318 retainer sacrifices buried in his tomb, and 269 retainer sacrifices buried in enclosures surrounding his tomb.
[10]In ancient Rome and Greek Culture, certain slaves were expelled from the community to ward off the disaster.In China, the sacrifice of a high-ranking male’s slaves, concubines, or servants upon his death (called Xun Zang) was a more common form. The stated purpose was to provide companionship for the dead in the afterlife. In earlier times, the victims were either killed or buried alive, while in later times, they were usually forced to commit suicide, just like the Indian Practice Sati in which women were forced to jump in to the pyre of their death husband.
[11]Retainer sacrifice was practiced within the royal tombs of ancient Mesopotamia. Courtiers, guards, musicians, handmaidens, and grooms were presumed to have committed ritual suicide by taking poison. Studies and excavations conducted in Mesopotamia appear to support a more harsh interpretation of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia than had previously been recognized. Palace attendants, as part of royal mortuary ritual, were not dosed with poison to meet death serenely. Instead, they were put to death by having a sharp instrument, such as a pike, driven into their heads.
[12]In Ancient Hawaii, a luakini temple, was a Native Hawaiian sacred place where human and animal blood sacrifices were offered. The outcast or slave class were often used as human sacrifices at the luakini temple. They are believed to have been war captives, or the descendants of war captives. They were not the only sacrifices; law-breakers of all castes or defeated political opponents were also acceptable as victims.
[13]In West Africa,Sacrifices were particularly common after the death of a king or queen, and there are many recorded cases of hundreds or even thousands of slaves being sacrificed at such events.
CHILD SACRIFICE
Infant sacrifices are usually performed to pacify a deity for continuous services like keeping good weather for cultivation.[14]The common factor is that society sacrifices children for the sake of individual and communal health and wealth. There are many instances of child sacrifice in mythology.[15]Genesis 22 relates the binding of Isaac, by Abraham to present his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. It was a test of faith (Genesis 22:12). Abraham agrees to this command without arguing. The story ends with an angel stopping Abraham at the last minute and making Isaac’s sacrifice unnecessary by providing a ram, caught in some nearby bushes, to be sacrificed instead.
[16]In November 2020, a childless couple in Kanpur killed a 7 year old girl and ate her organs on Diwali as a ritual so that the childless couple could have children. The couple got the vital organs of the victim through 2 youths, Ankul and Veeran who were the neighbors of the victim. They took the girl to the outskirts of the village, sexually assaulted her and hacked her to death.
RELIGIOUS KILLINGS IN INDIA
[17]In India, human sacrifice is mainly known as Narabali. Here “nara” means human and “bali” means sacrifice. It takes place in some parts of India mostly to find lost treasure.[18]In Maharashtra, the Government made it illegal to practice with the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act. Currently human sacrifice is very rare in modern India.There have been at least three cases through 2003–2013 where men have been murdered allegedly in the name of human sacrifice.
[19]Regarding possible Vedic mention of human sacrifice, the prevailing 19th-century view, associated above all with Henry Colebrooke, was that human sacrifice did not actually take place. Human and animal sacrifice became less common during the post-Vedic period, as ahimsa (non-violence) became part of mainstream religious thought. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.4) includes ahimsa in its list of virtues.The impact of Sramanic religions such as Buddhism and Jainism also became known in the Indian subcontinent.
[20]In some adaptations of Mahabharata, it is stated that,for the Pandavas to win the war, a human sacrifice had to be offered to goddess Kali, for which Aravan is chosen. Aravan or Iravaan is the son of the Pandava princeArjuna, Aravan agrees to the sacrifice on the condition that he should experience marital bliss before his death.
[21]In the 7th century, Banabhatta, in a description of the dedication of a temple of Chandika, describes a series of human sacrifices; similarly, in the 9th century, Haribhadra describes the sacrifices to Chandika in Odisha.The town of Kuknur in North Karnataka there exists an ancient Kali temple, built around the 8-9th century CE, which has a history of human sacrifices.Human sacrifice is reputed to have been performed on the altars of the Hatimura Temple, a Shakti (Great Goddess) temple located at Silghat, in the Nagaon district of Assam. It was built during the reign of king Pramatta Singha in 1667 Sakabda (1745–1746 CE). It used to be an important center of Shaktism in ancient Assam. Its presiding goddess is Durga in her aspect of Mahisamardini, slayer of the demon Mahisasura. It was also performed in the Tamresari Temple which was located in Sadiya under the Chutia kings.
[22]Human sacrifices were carried out in connection with the worship of Shakti until approximately the early modern period, and in Bengal perhaps as late as the early 19th century.Although not accepted by larger section of Hindu culture, certain Tantric cults performed human sacrifice until around the same time, both actual and symbolic; it was a highly ritualized act, and on occasion took many months to complete.
[23]India’s National Crime Records Bureau recorded 103 ritualistic sacrifices between 2014 and 2021. Most were sacrificed with the belief that it’ll bring prosperity, fertility or healing.
[24]The 2022 Elanthoor human sacrifice case refers to a crime in which two women were tortured and murdered as part of two human sacrifice rituals in Elanthoor village in Pathanamthitta district in the Indian state of Kerala. Ongoing investigations by the Kerala Police saw the arrests of Muhammed Shafi, Bhagawal Singh and his wife Laila. The victims were Roslyn and Padma, both lottery ticket vendors, who were living away from their families. The case received media attention because the killings were done in the name of human sacrifice and reportedly involved cannibalism (eating of human flesh by humans) “There the accused strangulated her neck with a plastic cord and slit her throat. Shafi mutilated Padma’s private parts with a knife. After that, they chopped off her body into 56 parts and stored them into buckets and buried them in a pit,”
The charge sheet was submitted on the 89th day since the arrests were made on 11th October 2022. Murder, conspiracy, and abduction have been included as offense, while 150 witnesses were named in the chargesheet, said officials.
Two instances Human sacrifices that occurred in 2023 are:
1.[25]Police in India have arrested three men in connection with a murdered 10-year-old boy, who they believe was “sacrificed” in a black magic ritual. Two of the arrested men are related to the boy. On March 26, police found the body of Vivek Verma in the fields in Bahraich city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Police inquiries led to the victim’s cousin, Anoop Verma. Police said Anoop has a 2.5-year-old son who is regularly sick, adding that when medical treatment didn’t work, he went to a local black magic practitioner who suggested a child be sacrificed to improve his health.
2.[26]In June 2023,A four-year-old boy was allegedly killed at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district in a suspected case of human sacrifice, police said on Wednesday, adding that four people, including the child’s stepmother and a man described as an occultist, were arrested. According to the police, the boy’s stepmother was told that a Child had to be sacrificed so that she could bear one of her own. The body of the boy, Satyendra, was found in a pond at Rehsi village under Jamo police station limits on Monday with injuries on eyes, ears, cheeks, chin and right elbow.
LEGAL PROVISIONS AGAINST HUMAN SACRIFICE IN INDIA
India is a country which has deep roots of black magic and superstition activities. Every year, there are several cases of black magic and human sacrifice in India but still, in India, there is no central law that exclusively deals with crimes related to witchcraft, superstition, or occult-inspired activities.
In 2016, Prevention of Witch-Hunting Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, but it wasn’t passed.
[27]The draft provisions included punishment for accusing or identifying a woman as a witch, use of criminal force against a woman, or torture or humiliation on the pretext of performing witchcraft.
■ Section 302 (punishment for murder) of IPC (Indian Penal Code) takes cognisance of human sacrifice, but only after the murder is committed, likewise, Section 295A works to discourage such practices.
■ Article 51A (h) of the Indian Constitution makes it a fundamental duty for Indian citizens to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
■ Other provisions under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954 also aim to tackle the debilitating impact of various superstitious activities prevalent in India.
SOME OF THE STATE SPECIFIC LAWS
● Bihar:[28]Bihar was the first State to enact a law to prevent witchcraft, identification of a woman as a witch and eliminate torture, humiliation and killing of women.The Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act came into force in October 1999.
● Maharashtra: [29]In 2013 Maharashtra enacted the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, which banned the practice of human sacrifice in the state. A section in the legislation specifically deals with claims made by ‘godmen’ who say they have supernatural powers.
● Karnataka: [30]Karnataka effected anti-superstition law in 2017 known as the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act. ○ The Act comprehensively counters “inhumane” practices linked to religious rituals.
● Kerala:[31]Kerala does not have a comprehensive Act to deal with black magic and other superstitions.
CONCLUSION
In India, Article 14 and Article 21 safeguards the natural law. Article 14 deals with right to equality before law and Article 21 deals with right to life and personal liberty. Practices like Human sacrifice violate an individual’s fundamental right to equality and right to life .Such acts also violate several provisions of various international legislations to which India is a signatory, such as the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948’, ‘The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966’, and ‘Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979’. In India there are only eight states that have witch-hunting legislations so far. These are Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka.In the absence of measures to tackle superstitions, unscientific and irrational practices such as faith healing, quackery, and misinformation regarding medical procedures can also balloon up, which can have severe detrimental effects on public order and health of citizens.
As India is moving close to the 100th year of Independence in 2047, we Indians should take steps to set ourselves free from the black magic and superstition. We should encourage each other to use scientific methods to heal our illness and other problems. Specific Legal Provision must be enacted to tackle the practices of Black magic and Human sacrifice and it should be implemented uniformly across India.
[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00258024231173347
[2] National Institutes of Health, Narabali: A rare case of Human
Sacrifice,https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37151034/#:~:text=Human%20sacrifice%2C%20also%20called %20’Narabali,Gods%2C%20spirits%2C%20or%20ancestors., (Last visited sept 2, 2023)
[3] National Institute of Health, supra note 2
[4] Martini Fisher, Sacrifice the virgin,Save the people,
https://martinifisher.com/2021/02/08/the-virgin-sacrifice/#:~:text=Greek%20tragedy%20gives%20us%20a, to%20ensure%20victory%20in%20war.,(last visited August 31, 2023)
[5]Wikipedia,,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitobashira#:~:text=Hitobashira%20was%20practised%20formerly %20in,a%20prayer%20to%20Shinto%20gods., Hitobashira,(last visited August 31,2023)
[6] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sacrifice,(last visited September 2 2023)
[7] Ancient Egyptian retainer
sacrifices,Wikipedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_retainer_sacrifices#:~:text=Servants% 20of%20both%20royalty%20and,greater%20importance%20of%20the%20pharaoh.,(last visited Sept 3 2023)
[8] Your Egypt tours,https://www.youregypttours.com/en/egypt-tours-blog/sacrifice-in-ancient-egypt, (last visited September 3 2023)
[9] Your Egypt tours, Supra note 8
[10] Wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice#:~:text=The%20sacrifice%20of%20a%20high,the%20dead %20in%20the%20afterlife., Human Sacrifice,(last visited Sept 3 2023)
[11] Dailymail,https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/fb-5895797/HOW-DID-HUMAN-SACRIFICE-PLACE-M ESOPOTAMIA.html, (last visited sept 3 2023)
[12] Wikipedia supra note
[13] JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/722523,(last visited sept 2 2023)
[14] David Miedema, Child Sacrifice in the Western World, Cedar Ethics: A journal of critical thinking in bioethics, [ Sept 1, 2023, 19:30pm]
[15] Bible Gateway,https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2022&version=KJV,(last visited Aug 29,2023)
[16] Faiz Rahman Siddique,Girl killed, organs eaten in occult ritual; 4 nabbed in Kanpur http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/79253150.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm _campaign=cppst, (last visited Aug 28,2023)
[17] Wikipedia,Supra note6
[18] Outlook
India,https://www.outlookindia.com/national/explained-where-does-india-stand-on-anti-superstition-and-bl ack-magic-legislations–news-229607, (sept 1 2023)
[19] Wikipedia, Supra note 6
[20] Springerlink,https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_829-1,(August 30,2023)
[21] Wikipedia,Supra note6
[22] Wikipedia,Supra note6
[23] Deccan
Herald,https://www.deccanherald.com/india/interactive-human-sacrifices-in-india-over-the-years-1154106. html, (last visited sept 1 2023)
[24] The Indian
Express,https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/thiruvananthapuram/two-women-sacrificed-in-kerala-8201 972/, (Aug 30 2023)
[25] Vice news,https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kx9pe/10-year-old-boy-human-sacrifice-india, (last visited Aug 31)
[26] Hindustan
Times,https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/4yearold-boy-killed-in-human-sacrifice-in-amethi-4-hel d-police-101686769505811.html, (last visited Aug 24 2023)
[27] Outlook India, Supra note 18
[28] Drishti
IAS,https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/anti-superstition-laws-in-india,(Sep1 2023)
[29]IndiaCode,https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/15787?view_type=browse&sam_handle=1234 56789/2517,(Sep 3,2023)
[30] IndiaCode,https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/7807?locale=en,(Aug 29 2023)
[31] Drishti IAS, Supra note 29
