In the drought-parched village situated in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, 6 minor girls, one as young as 5, were stripped and paraded naked around the village as part of a village ritual to ‘summon rain’.
Ritual to appease the rain god
The disturbing yet degrading incident took place in a drought-stricken village of Madhya Pradesh where the people are ready to resort to any means to make it rain. This ‘means’ includes supernatural beliefs such as sacrifices and offerings.
Sadly, the 6 girls were used as part of their village ritual to appease the rain gods. This incident went viral on social media where the young girls are shown walking naked with a wooden shaft over their shoulder which also had a frog tied to it.
The girls stopped at each and every house in the village and collected flour, pulses and other cereals which were then donated to the local temple’s community kitchen.
However, the locals were rigid in their beliefs and emphasised on the part of how effective their village’s ritual is in bringing rainfall to their village.
Madhya Police’s response to the video
As of yet, according to the Madhya Pradesh police, they still haven’t received any formal complaint against the unlawful event. However, they did add that they have opened an investigation regarding the incident.
Damoh Superintendent of Police DR Teniwar tells news agency Press Trust of India, “Action will be taken if we find the girls were forced to walk naked.”
Adults who are an absolute failure
According to speculations from the video, some have been reported to be as young as 5. In the video, the girls weren’t the only ones taking part in the ritual as a group of women singing hymns is seen while following the procession by the 6 girls.
A woman from the procession also makes her statement clear that they believe that this ritual will definitely bring rain.
Surprisingly enough, Damoh district collector S Krishna Chaitanya says that the 6 girls’ parents gave consent regarding their involvement in the ritual and even took part in it.
Furthermore, he adds, “In such cases, the administration can only make the villagers aware about the futility of such superstition and make them understand that such practices don’t yield desired results.”
Common occurrence of rituals
In India, almost every region has a festival related to the harvest season and dependence on monsoon rains is a known fact when it comes to Indian Agriculture. Thus, there have been rituals and beliefs which are solely devoted to the rain gods. The customs differ from region to region, with local customs heavily afflicting these beliefs.
Some may marry frogs or a donkey, some will hold fire rituals, some will offer animal sacrifices or some will hold a procession while singing praises of the rain god.
According to research studies on such social beliefs, these actions are a means for the people who believe that there is nowhere to turn to. Almost as if they’re at a fine line between giving up and sanity.
Thus, this is not something out of the ordinary. In Madhya Pradesh, back in 2018, two living frogs were married off ceremoniously in the hopes that their marriage will bring rain to the drought-stricken area. This ‘marriage’ event was attended by Lalita Yadava, who was then the minister of state for women and child development.
In 2017, the state of Madhya Pradesh witnessed another ‘marriage’. A ‘gay marriage’ was held in the state as a way of appeasing the gods, despite ‘gay marriage’ not be legal in our country.
However, some cynics may even say that these acts and rituals are just a means to distract ordinary people from real hardships.
