Kerala top cop, DGP R Sreelekha calls Kuthiyottam ritual cruelty to kids'
The DGP said she will not be offering a Pongala this year unless there will be a divine intervention to stop this from happening.
Thiruvananthapuram: The famous Attukal Pongala festival in Kerela has stirred a major controversy after a top cop from the state openly criticised one of the rituals during followed as part of the festival.
IPS officer, DGP R Sreelekha in her blog titled - 'Time to Stop this Yearly Crime in the Name of Faith!' posted on February 27, 2018 said "While women of certain age groups are banned near Sabarimala, men of every age group throng around Attukal Temple during 'Pongala.' So, hardly akin to Sabarimala! But what about children? Can we call it Boy’s Prison Cell?"
Here's extract from Sreelekha's blog:
"Little girls are decked up and made to wear a crown, carry a with lit lamp and other things and just paraded around. Harmless! But for 1000 odd boys, it's torture time in Attukal now. Parents conspire with temple authorities to put their children through rigorous mental and physical abuse for five days where boys from the age of 5 to 12 are made to wear just a loin cloth, submerge in cold water thrice daily, eat measly morsels squatting on the floor and sleep on the bare temple ground. Yes, recite mantras and obey blindly their leaders too. They are not allowed to see their parents during this time.
And on the final day, each of them will be decked up with yellow cloths, garlands, jewellery and makeup on face including lipstick and made to stand in a queue for their last unexpected torture. An iron hook, tiny though it is, will be pierced into their skin on their flanks. They scream. Blood comes out. A thread will be symbolically knotted through the hooks to symbolise their bond with divinity. Then hooks are pulled out and ash roughly applied to the wounds! All this for temple deity! Parents may feel relieved that their boys will now grow up to be disciplined kids and do well in their studies. Will the kids too feel the same? And how will our dear Attukal Amma be feeling?"
Sreelekha alleged parents follow the ritual without informing the children about the piercing. Causing physical and mental pain to children are offences under sections 89, 319, 320, 349, 350, 351 of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Juvenile Justice Act and the Child Welfare Commission Act penalises it.
The DGP ended her blog by saying that a crime is about to happen on hapless kid, the piercing will take place this year on the evening of March 2.
She said she has been requesting people to stop it ever since she knew about this "weird custom".
The DGP said she will not be offering a Pongala this year unless there will be a divine intervention to stop this from happening.
'Kuthiyottam' is a ceremonial ritual offered by the devotees where young children below the age of 9 have to be in the temple for a week (7 days). The temple authorities say that the ritual depicts children as "soldiers of the goddess".
During the festival, children reside inside the temple and are supposed to follow intense mental and physical discipline.
On the last day of the festival, the children are dressed up as soldiers and their bodies are pierced with small metal hooks.
Click here to read DGP R Sreelekha's blog.