Whipped in the name of ritual

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.

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. (NDTV Photo)

The priests explain this cruelty as a cure-all, for not studying enough, or even for being slow to attain puberty. 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. (NDTV Photo)
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.

Also as we see in the picture, police was also present at the scene but they didn't intervene to stop the atrocities either. (NDTV Photo)
The women were gasping for breath, many are sobbing their hearts out. But their 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." (NDTV Photo)