Dozens Of Girls Found Sacrificed (National Geographic News; July 14)

Research into 33 mummies discovered in Peru has revealed most of the bodies were girls, most likely sacrificed in the belief their deaths would bring fertility to the peoples farmlands.

Utah Valley University professor Haagen Klaus is an expert in bio-archaeology and has been examining the human remains found in 2007 at the Chotuna Huaca, a site located north east of Chiclayo, Peru.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Haagen Klaus, Anthropologist, Utah Valley University: “Majority of them were sacrificed using a very sharp bladed instrument, probably a copper or bronze tumi knife. And for the majority there are several combinations, a complex set of variations on cutting of the throat.”

According to the Associated Press, it wasn’t until a few months ago that all of the human remains were uncovered.

While mass sacrifice was common in Andean pre-Hispanic cultures, it is rare to find such a large number of sacrificed people together in one place.

Klaus says the sacrifices were made to ensure rain and agricultural fertility….

30 of the 33 bodies were female and the majority hadn’t reached 15-years-old and some of the mummies were children no older than nine.

Klaus explained that in Andean society children were not considered human beings….

Young Girl Sacrificed In India (The Times of India; July 29)

LUCKNOW: A farmer chopped off the head of a five-year-old girl in Lakhimpur Kheri to please a deity so that he be blessed with a son. The accused farmer, tantrik (self-proclaimed god man) and his associate were arrested soon after the incident came to light in wee hours of Tuesday.

IG, Lucknow, AK Jain has ordered the Lakhimpur police to invoke the Gangster’s Act against the accused. By Tuesday evening the police had initiated the proceeding to slap National Security Act (NSA) against the trio.

Kheri SSP Piyush Mordia identified the deceased as Vandana (5), daughter of Gaya Prasad of Murdia Hemsingh village under the Bheera police station. “Victim’s parents told the police that Vandana was found missing early Tuesday morning,” Mordia said. Subsequently, a manhunt was launched, which led the family to the farm of Ram Niwas, a local resident. Vandana’s headless body was recovered from the field and subsequently the police were informed. The police recovered half burnt incense sticks, herbs, oil, flowers and other things required for rituals from the site. A pair of slippers was also recovered. It was later traced to Mewalal, the next door neighbour of Gaya Prasad.

Mewalal was arrested while trying to flee the village along with his nephew Ram Niwas. The duo confessed to their crime and revealed that Mewalal’s assistant Yusuf was also involved in the crime.

Will humans EVER completely outgrow the idea that they can better their lives by killing a child for their gOd (or for other supernatural forces)?

I wish I had more grounds for being optimistic than I do….