The medieval mentality found in some parts of India was on display in the Gujarat High Court, which asked a rape victim to balance a 40kg rock on her head in order to ‘prove her purity’ and reside with her husband again. It is part of the bizarre ritual called “Agnipariksha,” or “test of fire.”
The woman became pregnant as a result of the rape but was denied an abortion by Gujarat High Court in India . If she passes this “sanctity test,” she would be able to live with her husband again.
The “test of fire” is the traditional way in some areas of India to prove virtue because of the view that a rape victim is considered to be “tainted.” The origins of the test is found in the Hindu poem Ramayana, in which Sita was made to sit in the fire after she had been kidnapped by a suitor.
24 comments
Can someone more familiar with Hinduism and the Ramayana explain were the rock balancing comes in, as that isn't specifically touched upon in the post. I mean...what does this rock balancing test even prove? I've seen some bizare takes on the concept of sexual purity, but this...astounds me.
Good gravy! That Ramayana bit should've been a one-time thing! It was stupid in the story & it's stupid now (though I usually saw it as Rama being a jerk and Sita doing it to shut him up).
@Insult to Rocks
Probably because immolation, unlike the bizarre miraculous mythical weirdness of Sita's "test" (Sita survived the flames with flying colors), would definitely kill you.
Then again, This woman's got to balance a 88 POUND ROCK on her head! Her noggin could cave-in if she's not careful!
The rapist should have the rock on the head, not this poor woman!
Is this a legit Indian Government court or some backwoods council of old beardies being nimrods? Then again, the legitimate Indian Government probably wouldn't be much better.
I'm sick of this victim-blaming! Where are the robbery victims with the rock-heads? Why does nobody blame Mr. Jones for those other guys stealing his car? Should we blame JFK because Oswald got the bright idea to blow the former's head off? How about blaming those pitbulls for what Michael Vick did to them?!
No! Rape, weirdly enough, only gets that treatment...apparently because women are "temptresses" the the assumption is always that she had consensual sex somehow! It's like the concept of "rape" isn't a real thing with some folks.
@TheReasonator
"But if they don't then Britain should take India back. If India tolerates this kind of nonsense they don't deserve independence."
Remember how you destroyed indian culture and economy while it was a colony? Remember the famines?
Remember Alan Turing? Remember you helped the U.S. with their illegal invasion of Iraq?
Journalist: "What do you think of Western civilization?"
Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."
What the double fuck?!
A woman gets raped, is forced to carry to term, has her rape-baby snatched away by the government, then finally because you and the sick piece of shit that raped her apparantly haven't hurt her enough you keep her from her husband and the rest of her family unless she can endure some ridiculous ritual humilation based on a poem about a kidnapping victim who was then tortured by a jealous suitor.
What kind of drug addled logic is this shit?
This makes as much sense as forcing someone to pay fines and then walk over hot coals without crying out to regain the right to have a job because they got mugged one day.
And these idiots follow a religion where the highest power in the universe is FEMALE and the most awesome, butt-kickin' deities are as well!
I wish I could go back in time, burn every copy of the Manu Smirti and shove all those Brahmins into a dark pit!
During the early times of the Vedas & Main Upanishads, women had more rights and respect. Things were more relaxed and liberal. Nudity wasn't taboo. People weren't prudes and the Varna (Caste) System was more about a vague suggestion of what careers go best with certain soul-types than a rigid hereditary social-class discrimination racket.
All these insecure, weak males, doing everything they can to stifle and subdue SHAKTI! I wish Kaali was a literal being so she could go all "Cuisinart" on these freaks!
[IMG]http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/SpukiKitty/All%20My%20General%20Reactions/kali_rudhira_c_zps7df94d7c.jpg[/IMG]
"WHAT'S THIS B.S. I HEAR ABOUT BALANCING A ROCK?! THE ONLY ROCK-HEADS I SEE HERE ARE YOU DISGUSTING EXCUSES FOR HUMAN MALES! LORD SHIVA IS APPALLED AT YOUR POOR GRASP OF THE MASCULINE! *RAAAAWWWRRRGHHH!*
Then she goes to the rapist's house and eats the rapist.
"RAPIST-MEAT CURRY! SOUND YUMMY! ESPECIALLY THE LIVER, WHICH I EAT WITH SOME LENTIL-BEANS AND A NICE DESI DARU! *Hannibal-esque slurpy noises*"
Did some research on this topic. It seems that the original source is somewhat dubious; they kinda play fast and loose with the facts. I think it was India Today.
From what I've read, this agnipariksha is not practiced. The story goes on to say that a higher court overturned the abortion ban.
The woman is living in fear as her rapist has vowed to kill her when he gets out of jail.
@ Dyz
I'm not British. I just recognize that comparatively India would be better off under British rule.
The Indian government puts people in jail for being gay. So did Britain when it last colonized India, but that's in the past. If Britain colonized India today they would protect gay people in India.
They would also stop all this religious extremism (like is mentioned in this article) and discrimination against the Untouchables.
As for famine Britain would be doing what ever it could to prevent famines as it would know that otherwise it would face the ire of the international community.
You can't just point to things that happened in the past and assume things would happen the same way when so much has changed.
But more ideally India should stop these problems. But the only way would be if India sent a clear and unambiguous message against religious extremism and superstition. But even if they reverse the court decision I doubt that judge will so much as lose his job, let alone spend the rest of his life in prison.
The only way for places like India to put a stop to backwardness is to take a hardline against it. Normally I'm for freedom of speech but if India wants to fix its society they should send people to prison for even advocating that people be subjected to this sort of nonsense, and a life in prison sentence for actually subjecting them to it.
@ Wyzard
Well guess India's not as bad as I thought it was. They still have a lot of issues to work on, but not as bad.
As for him threatening her, don't they have a law against threatening people's lives? Couldn't the woman press criminal charges against the rapist for threatening her life and then the judge could extend his sentence and keep him in prison for the rest of his life?
#1844504:
Sorry, are you under the impression that it is somehow not allowed to mention Christianity in a thread about fundies from another religion? I wasn’t aware of such a rule.
Is there also one that prohibits mentioning Islam in the comments to a quote about fundie Christians? That would be strange, because I cannot recall you complaining about that.
@ Kuno
As far as I can tell, this anonymous person or group of people seems to be intent on 'proving' that FSTDT is discriminating against white Christians. He/she/they started out complaining that we ignore it when somebody who isn't white does something bad. When another commenter pointed out that we didn't, the anon started claiming that by not devoting equal amounts of time to mocking every fundie type, and by bringing up Christianity in the comment sections of other quotes, we're supposedly saying that 'white people being mean on the internet' is just as bad as the things happening in the middle east. At least, I think that's what the anon posts are saying, because whoever makes them refuses to stay long enough to clarify what they mean, or respond properly to criticism.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.