Caste in India: The Facts and the System c6.s7.2

c6.s7.2

Beames ¹ has related an occurrence of which he was a witness which puts us into close touch with the attributes and mechanism of this organization. It deserves to be briefly quoted. It was at Purneah; a man of low caste, a *dhobī*, or washerman, was suspected of having illicit intercourse with one of his aunts. He denied it, but refused to banish from his house the supposed accomplice. He ended by openly marrying her. None of his caste consented to be present at the marriage and public feeling ran very high against the couple. Finally all the members of the caste living in the district, several hundred in number, assembled and elected a large jury, which, after careful examination of the facts, brought in a verdict of guilty against the accused parties and ordered their exclusion. A circular duly signed by the judges, and passed from hand to hand, informed every one in the neighbouring districts who belonged to the caste that such-and-such a person, having been convicted of immoral conduct contrary to hereditary practices, had been deprived of all his rights, and that, in consequence, no one might eat, drink, or smoke with him, under penalty of sharing his fate. The unhappy victim, having endured the effects of the sentence for some weeks, soon found life intolerable. After a short time he gave in and separated from his wife. He was obliged, by way of expiation and fine, to give a great feast, at which the whole brotherhood ate with him, and from that time onward he was reinstated in his rights.