Harsh rituals: Teen Jain girl dies after fasting for over 2 months

Do we really need harsh rituals and harmful religious practices? Giving a clear answer to this question, a teen Jain girl, aged thirteen years, died in Hyderabad after fasting for nearly sixty-eight days continuously. In a shocking report revealed by the national medias, it said that during this holy period of ‘Chaumasa’ the believers of this religious ideology (Jain) usually observe fasting. The report added that those people who observe this harsh ritual often receive appreciation from their family, peers, and religious leaders. They get high status and position in the religious ceremonies conducted during that period, the report further added. But, the dark side is that expecting such high respect and enormous gifts, some people voluntarily perform this religious ritual without taking proper preparation and without knowing the consequences. Some experts believe that the girl is the victim of a kind of religious glorification. They added that her parents should not have allowed her to perform such a harmful ritual even if she is wholeheartedly willing to observe it, because she is a minor. A senior religious leader of Jain religion informed the NDTV reporters that the ‘Santhara’- the religious fasting- is usually observed by the elderly people. It is learned that earlier the same girl had observed similar fasting and successfully survived. The girl is hailing from a middle-class family. Her family do jewellery business and have a jewellery shop in the city. An investigation over the death of the girl has been launched after a child right activist sought a probe.

vignesh

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