Daily Lessons from Life 30 July 2009

"Indian man 'sacrifices' five-year-old girl for male child - Thu, Jul 30, 2009 AFP

LUCKNOW, India, July 30, 2009 (AFP) - A rural Indian witch doctor beheaded a five-year-old girl as part of a bizarre ritual to help a villager produce healthy male heirs, police said Thursday.

Vandana Kumari was murdered on Tuesday in Lakhimpur Kheri district, 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Uttar Pradesh state capital Lucknow, police officer Ravi Srivastava told AFP by telephone.

Occult practitioner Mewalal Chauhan recommended the "human sacrifice" when the child"s neighbour Ram Niwas came to him for help, Srivastava said.

"Ram Niwas had sons but none of them survived infancy. His brother too was ailing. The 'tantrik' Chauhan said a human sacrifice was necessary to get rid of these problems," Srivastava said.

The witch doctor, his male assistant and Niwas lured the little girl into a field where Chauhan cut off her head after prayers and rituals, the police officer said.

Police said they recovered the child's headless body after her mother reported her missing, and had detained the three men.

Belief in black magic is common among superstitious rural Indians. Many families in India value male heirs for their breadwinning potential, and sons are needed to light their parents' funeral pyres under Hindu rites."

This is a shocking news in 21st century earth! To think that someone would actually advised the killing of innocent in exchange for something someone craved is simply unthinkable! The fact that it occurred not in the thick jungle of some undiscovered or primitive part of earth but in a relatively open and developing country like India made it even more shocking!!

Lessons for me are:

1. superstition is deep-rooted. When people are desparate to get something they will readily accept suggestion that are plain and clearly unethical, unlawful, and criminal! Killing a child CANNOT be the right thing to do!;

2. promixity to civilized world does not make human being more civilized! The fact that more than 1 adult participated in this killing, though maybe only 1 of them actually beheaded the innocent child, shows that it is possible to get fools following fools!!;

3. it is critical that we set good example as leaders of men. We must be clear in our mind what are the right values we must possessed and influenced others to realize that these values are good for them too. Superstition CANNOT be condoned. The rational mind must prevail over the emotional mind when we define the problems or issues and then proceed to seek the most appropriate solutions from many solutions discussed and thrown up.

This is a very sad tragedy. A young innocent life has been lost. Condolences to the family of the innocent child. May those who committed this crime be punished severely and made an example of them that superstitious beliefs and behaviors are NOT tolerated at all!