Human toll rises at Gadhimai

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Nepal's bloodbath fair claims three Indian infants

By IANS

Saturday,28 November 2009, 09:08 hrs

 

 

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Kathmandu: At least three Indian infants died due to cold in Nepal's most

controversial religious fair, where thousands of animals and birds are being

slaughtered by Indians and Nepalis, mostly in the hope of getting a son or

wish fulfilment.

 

Nisha Kumari Shah, the one-year-old daughter of Prem Shah who went to attend

the Gadhimai Fair in Nepal's Bara district, died Tuesday after failing to

receive adequate treatment at the " health camps " put up at the fair to treat

the millions of Hindu devotees who have been swarming to witness the killing

of thousands of birds and animals for two days from Tuesday.

 

 

A four-month-old baby girl, whose parent was identified as Rajesh Prasad,

also died due to the cold in the plains as well as a two-month-old boy who

could not be identified immediately.

 

All three families came from Narkatiaganj in India's Bihar state, from where

the majority of the pilgrims are, Nepali daily Kantipur reported Wednesday.

 

Before the animal sacrifices began Tuesday, an Indian from Motihari died in

the fair after drinking moonshine.

 

Animal rights activist R.B. Bomjan, who had been campaigning in Bara to

prevent the slaughter, said the human toll would rise once police collected

figures about the road accidents.

 

Thousands of Indians have come to the fair laden on tractors and buses and

there have been several accidents, Bomjan said.

 

The fair, held every five years, is driven by Indians from Nepal's

neighbouring states who flock there since animal sacrifices are banned in

their own states.

 

Besides Bihar, people come from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and West

Bengal.

 

The majority of the pilgrims, especially those offering animal sacrifices,

come from low-income households with a high degree of illiteracy and

superstition.

 

Violence, especially against women and children, is rampant in the Terai

plains of both India and Nepal where brides are burnt to death for not

bringing satisfactory dowries and elderly women tortured on the suspicion

they are witches casting an evil eye on their neighbours.

 

On Wednesday, when the mass slaughters ended at the altar of Gadhimai, the

goddess of power, the office of Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal

and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal

(OHCHR), jointly launched a television clip highlighting the violence

against women alleged to be practising witchcraft.

 

" This is one of the worst forms of violence against women in Nepal, " the UN

rights agency said.

 

" A large number of women alleged to be practising witchcraft mostly in the

rural Terai, have been ill-treated, tortured, brutally beaten up, and forced

to eat human excreta. Deeply-rooted in superstition and entrenched

discriminatory practices especially against widows, the violence against

women allegedly involved in the practise of witchcraft is a gross human

rights violation and a crime punishable under national and international

human rights laws. "