2000 women whipped for 5 hours by priests

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2000 women whipped for 5 hours by priests

NDTV Correspondent, Wednesday September 30, 2009, Tamil Nadu

Like every Dussera, thousands gathered to pray at a 300-year-old temple in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district. What followed next was unspeakable horror.

Two thousand teenagers and children, some as young as 10, were whipped by the temple's priests. For five hours. The priests' explanation: This whipping is a cure-all. Some 10-year-olds were lashed for not studying enough. Others were attacked for being slow to attain puberty. And menstruating teens were hit for being impure. The priests say this is nothing new. "We have been practicing this ritual for 300 years," declares Thangavelu, a priest.

The shocking scenes were filmed by local channels, none of whom called for help. Like others in this area, they find nothing absurd about what they saw. Tradition is tradition, they say.

The women can be seen gasping for breath, many are sobbing their hearts out. But the faith is unshakeable. Radhika, a devotee, says, "We believe that when we are whipped, we will get rid of all our mental and physical ailments and evil spirits."

In pics: Whipped in the name of ritual

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Posted by Sivaprakash on Oct 26, 2009

Well , these traditions started thousands of years ago.. what do you expect ? a Human rights commitee 2 thousand years ago ? Now in this so called modern world, homesexuality, gay marriages, man becoming women and vice versa, holocoust, abortion and killing in the name on religion is now being 'accepted' as normal. are we now civilised ?

Posted by madat chatur on Oct 05, 2009

This shows that India is not a civilized country. It is incredible to note there are sadistic policemen watching and doing nothing. The local, State and Federal governments should resign

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