Poor Tamil kids pay for rich ones: Lekshmy Rajeev

Thiruvananthapuram: Close on the heels of DGP Sreelekha’s blog against the practice of ‘Kuthiyottam’ in Attukal Temple, historian Lekshmy Rajeev has revealed that rich parents in the capital rent children from downtrodden families to do the ‘kuthiyottam’ penance for their kids. Ms Rajeev, the author of ‘Attukal Amma: The Goddess of Millions’, made this charge in a Facebook note she posted after offering Pongala on Friday.

Child Rights Commission chairperson Ms Sobha Koshy reacted to Ms Rajeev’s post with caution. “We cannot comment on this before we get appropriate information,” Ms Koshy said. When asked whether the Commission would seek information from Ms Rajeev, Ms Koshy responded thus: “Ms Lekshmy Rajeev had done extensive research on the temple so we cannot say that she has made a wild charge. But we also do not know from where she got the information. We will ask her if we feel the need to do so.” Nonetheless, Ms Koshy said that Ms Rajeev’s blog would be documented for reference.

Ms Rajeev has apparently received the information from a boy she came across in the house she randomly chose to rest after offering pongala on Friday. She states in her FB post that the head of the family had given her a class on the need for 'kuthiyottam'. When she was alone with the man's son, she asked the boy whether the ritual was painful."No aunty, he said. My father paid to get another boy to take the penance for me," Ms Rajeev said in her post, quoting the boy.  

Ms Rajeev said that this was a revelation for her. "These days many foreign journalists had asked me whether the practice of renting out children, so prevalent in Chettikulangara temple, was common in Attukal, too. I told them I didn't know. It was impossible for me to think like that," her post said.  She also writes that she called up another person to confirm whether poor kids were made to subsitute for rich kids. "I was told yes. But my acquaintance told me that she was not aware of the existing rate. Perhaps, Tamil children could be had for 10,000 or 13,000, I was told,” the blog stated.