{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 63,
  "chapterName": "1802. Regulation to Prevent the Sacrifice of Children",
  "pageFrom": 75,
  "pageTo": 75,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 75,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n75\nIn the afternoon we went to the Nazareny village, which contains\nmany houses regularly disposed, and full of people. For an Indian\ntown it is well built, and comparatively clean. It has a new church\nof considerable size. An old church is situated at some distance\non a beautiful rising ground. It is now unroofed; but the walls,\nalthough built of indurated clay only, continue very fresh and\nstrong. The altar is arched over with the same materials, and\npossesses some degree of elegance. The burying ground is at the\nwest end of the church, where the principal door is placed. From\nits being very small, the graves must be opened long before the bones\nare consumed. As the graves are opened for the new bodies, the\nold bones are collected, and thrown into an open pit near the\ncorner of the church, where they as exposed to the view of all\npassengers.\n63. REGULATION TO PREVENT THE SACRIFICE\nOF CHILDREN (1802 A.D.)\nOn 20 August 1802, Regulation VI was passed by the Governor-\nGeneral in council prohibiting the practice of sacrificing children by\ndrowning or throwing them to the sharks. It is evidence of government\ninterference in religiously customary practice, when such practices\nwere abhorrent to the British sense of values and could be shown\nto be contrary to Hindu & Moslem law. Cited in Claudius Buchanan,\nMemoir of the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British\nIndia, p. 101.\nA regulation for preventing the sacrifice of children at Saugor\nand other places. Passed by the Governor-General in council, on\nthe 20th August, 1802.\nIt has been represented to the Governor-General in council,\nthat a criminal and inhuman practice of sacrificing children, by\nexposing them to be drowned, or devoured by sharks, prevails at\nthe island of Saugor, and at Bansbaryah, Chaugdah, and other\nplaces on the Ganges. At Saugor especially, such sacrifices have\nbeen made at fixed periods, namely, the day of full moon in Novem-\nber and in January; at which time also grown persons have devoted\nthemselves to a similar death. Children, thrown into the sea at\nSaugor have not been generally rescued, as is stated to be the\ncustom at other places; but the sacrifice has, on the contrary,\nbeen completely affected, with circumstances of peculiar atrocity\nin some instances. This practice, which is represented to arise\nfrom superstitious vows, is not sanctioned by the Hindoo law, nor\ncountenanced by the religious orders, or by the people at large;\nnor was it at any time authorised by the Hindoo or Mohamedan\ngovernments of India. The persons concerned in the perpetration\nof such crimes are therefore clearly liable to punishment; and the",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}