Village Vigilantes

I thought you might appreciate a snippet from this morning’s issue of our daily newspaper, The Hindu. There seem to be similar stories every day, reminding us of the greater desperation and barbarities outside of Bangalore’s borders. I’ve changed a few of the words in quotes to help with understanding, but this is actual, quoted news from our side of the world!

In continuing vigilantism in Bihar, a 26-year old man was beaten to death on Monday night after a “guru” said he had stolen idols from the Ram-Janki in Patahi Village. A few days ago, authorities of the temple lodged an “alert”, saying idols had been stolen. Superintendent of Police M. R. Nayak said the temple in charge, Prem Chandra later sent some people to an “spiritual guru”, who THROUGH BLACK MAGIC CONCLUDED that the idols had been stolen by a man named Rajesh. This led to a manhunt and a person named Rakesh Kumar was presented before a “council”, attended by 200 people on Monday. The proceedings lasted barely two minutes, after which it was announced that the thief had been nabbed.

The youth’s father pleaded that his son’s name was Rakesh, not Rajesh, and that he must be freed. But Singh ignored the plea and turned the young man over to 15 persons, who bashed Rakesh on the spot.