crazy pictures show children looking on as teams of men struggle to rip apart live goats in barbaric Nepalese festival
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- The Deopokhari festival, held in the village of Khokana in the Kathmandu Valley, has gone ahead despite protests
- A young female goat is thrown into a pond in the village, and bitten, strangled and pulled by villagers until it dies
- PETA and Nepalese animal charities have spear-headed a campaign against the festival, branding it 'barbaric'
- Shocked members of the public have launched petitions online calling on the Nepalese government to ban it
A
barbaric Nepalese festival which sees a live goat ripped apart by
villagers' bare hands and teeth has gone ahead for another year, despite
uproar from animal rights activists trying to get it banned.
Shocking
photographs taken from this year's Deopokhari festival show children
looking on as villagers tear at the live baby goat as part of the
horrific annual competition.
The
900-year-old festival is held every year in August, in the village of
Khokana, one of the oldest villages in the Kathmandu Valley in central
Nepal.
But
animal rights campaigners have branded the celebration 'barbaric', as
part of the ceremony sees a young female goat brutally sacrificed.
Barbaric: The 900-year-old Deopokhari
festival has gone ahead for another year, despite animal rights
campaigners insisting that it should be banned due to the horrific
slaughter of a young goat
Violent death: A five-month-old goat
is hurled into the Khokana village's sacred Deu pond, pursued by a team
of men who attempt to tear the goat apart with their bare hands and
teeth
The
five-month-old goat is hurled into the village's sacred Deu pond, close
to the Rudrayani temple at the centre of the village. A team of men
leap into the pond after the animal, and attempt to slaughter it with
their bare hands and teeth.
They
continue to bite, pull at and strangle the goat until it is torn apart,
and the man deemed to have eventually killed it is permitted to lead
the year's festival procession.
Animal
rights campaigners have been calling for the festival to be banned in
recent months, and shocked members of the public from across Europe and
Nepal have launched a number of online petitions on websites such as Change.org.
Nepalese
organisation Animal Welfare Network Nepal has been spear-heading a
campaign against the festival for years, and has succeeded in rallying
international support in its struggle.
‘Animal
Welfare Network Nepal condemns the act of sacrifice in the festival and
is continuously raising its voice against animal cruelty,’ said a
spokesman for the AWNN campaign group.
World-renowned
animals rights charity PETA has joined the AWNN in its campaign,
highlighting the damage that the 'uniquely savage and disgusting'
festival does to Nepal's international reputation.
Savage: PETA has joined forces with
several Nepalese animal rights groups to protest the festival and the
brutal sacrifice, which dates back to the 12th century
Celebrations:
Shocking photographs taken at today's event show villagers attempting
to pull the goat apart, as others help from the sides of the pond. The
eventual victor is the one deemed to have delivered the final blow, who
is then allowed to lead that year's procession
Innocence: Children from the village
watch on as the baby female goat is brutally sacrificed, in a
900-year-old ceremony designed to appease the gods in the pond after a
child from the village drowned in the 12th century
The
charity's UK director Mimi Bekhechi, said: 'The Khokana festival
demonstrates only obliviousness to world opinion, disrespect for life
and an almost uniquely savage and disgusting display of cruelty.
'There are few living beings as gentle and defenceless as baby goats, the victims of this barbarous act.'
Ms
Bekhechi continued: 'Images of terrified kids [baby goats] being
attacked and drowned as they bleat and struggle for their lives hurts
Nepal's reputation internationally and certainly damages the tourist
trade.
'We
urge the majority of people in Nepal, who are no doubt kind and caring,
to join the international clamour to end these barbaric rituals.'
Surajan
Shrestha, President of the Animal Rights Club in Nepal, told
MailOnline: 'The process of the ritual is actually a very long one, the
goat suffers for at least 40 minutes before she gives up slowly with
extreme pain and suffering.
'Khokana
festival has been a festival of a particular ethnic group for many
years in which a goat is killed in a very cruel manner in the name of
god and for entertainment. 'Traditions in which animal cruelty is
involved should be stopped as soon as possible.'
The
largest online petition, calling on the Nepali Congress Central Office
to ban the practice, has been signed by more than 57,000 people, while
several others have received more than 5,000 signatures each.
Ready to begin: A Nepalese man
carrying a goat jumps into the sacred Deu pond, at the annual festival
in Khokana village, one of the oldest settlements in the Kathmandu
Valley
Fighting for life: The goat is pursued
by a group of men in the sacred pond. As well as biting and tearing at
the baby goat, the villagers also try to drown it during the festival
‘No
one can adequately explain why this practice is carried out year after
year – except to say that it is ‘traditional’,’ said Geoff Knight, who
launched the original petition.
‘Such a cruel and vicious act inflicted on an animal has no place in a civilised society and should be banned immediately.’
Nepalese
national Bidhata Singh, who has also set up a petition against the
sacrifice, added: ‘The experience of the goat is excruciating. Every
year in Nepal animals are sacrificed in the name of religion or
tradition, which is totally devilish, immoral and mad.’
Members
of the public from across the world who signed the petition have
denounced the practice, branding it 'savage', 'shocking' and
'disgusting'.
‘An animal feels pain, and torture of this kind is barbaric and should be banned,’ wrote Jennie Leong, from Australia.
‘There
is no justification or excuse for such practices in this day and age,
and any civilised society should not tolerate this! The world should do
something to stop it.’
Alexander
Gurung, from Nepal, added: ‘All the rituals where live animals are
sacrificed have to be scrapped. This is inhumane practice.’
'Brutal': Animals rights campaigners
have spoken out against a Nepalese cultural festival during which a
young goat is torn apart while still alive by the young men of the
Khokana village (photo from the festival in 2013)
Traditional: The Deopokhari festival,
which dates back to the 12th century, sees a young goat thrown into the
Deu pond, near the village's Rudrayani temple (photo from the festival
in 2014)
Savage: A team of men jump into the
pond after the goat and proceed to bite and tear at the young goat with
their teeth and hands (photo from the festival in 2013)
Imogen
Roberts, from Boston in the U.K., said: ‘This is the most horrifying
thing I have seen on the internet. I can’t believe things like this are
still allowed, let alone celebrated in the 21st century.’
The
festival dates back to the 12th century, when residents began drowning a
live goat to appease the gods that were perceived to be living in the
pond after a village child drowned in it.
It
is held the day after one of Nepal's most popular festivals, Gai Jatra,
or the Festival of Cows. The festival is celebrated mainly in the
Kathmandu valley by the Newar community, and during the festival – which
honours the people who have died that year – cows are marched in the
streets.
The
festival is a celebration of the culture of the Newari people, the
indigenous people of the area around the Kathmandu Valley, and features
traditional dancing, music and food.
The Newari people practice a combination of Hinduism and Buddhism which dates back centuries.
Sacrifice: The winner of the
competition is the one deemed to have finally killed the goat, and he is
allowed to lead that year's procession (photo from the festival in
2014)
Celebration: Animals rights
campaigners across the world have condemned the practice, and called on
the Nepalese government to put a stop to the festival once and for
all (photo from the festival in 2014)
Graphic assault: The original online
petition, launched on Change.org, has been signed by more than 53,000
people, shocked by the brutality of the sacrifice (photo from the
festival in 2012)
'Disrespect for life': British animal
rights campaigner Geoff Knight, who launched the original campaign,
insisted the 'cruel and vicious' festival has 'no place in a civilised
society and should be banned immediately' (photo from the festival in
2012)
Outrage: The animal rights campaign
calling from a ban on the savage festival has reached world-renowned
animal charity PETA, which has added its weight to the campaign (photo
from the festival in 2013)
Other
Newari cultures on show at the Deopokhari festival include the dhime
and Devi dances, Newar foods and wine, crafts and music.
But this is not the only Nepalese festival to have drawn the attention of animal rights groups.
A
two-day religious festival held every five years in Nepal, which saw
the ritual slaughter of 250,000 buffalo, birds and goats, was finally
called to an end in July by Nepalese religious leaders.
Millions
flocked to attend the ceremony which was held in honour of the Hindu
goddess of power, Gadhimai, at her temple in Bariyarpur, near the Indian
border.
The
chairman of the Gadhimai Temple Trust, which organised previous
festivals, released a heartwarming statement saying: 'The time has come
to replace killing and violence with peaceful worship and
celebration.'
Uproar: The Deopokhari festival is a
show of Newari culture, with traditional dancing, food and wine all on
show during the celebrations (photo from the festival in 2013)
Appease the gods: A group of men hurl
the baby goat into the Deu pond at the start of the celebration, pursued
by nine of the village's young men (photo from the festival in 2013)
Competition:
The men pull at, strangle and bite the young goat until it is torn
apart or drowned. The one deemed to have killed it is crowned the
winner (photos from the festival in 2012)
Fight for victory: Two men from the
Newari village of Khokana strangle a baby goat in the Deu pond, during
the annual Deopokhari celebration (photo from the festival in 2013)
Community celebration: A group of men,
women and children from the Khokana village, in the Kathmandu Valley,
seize various body parts of the goat with smiles on their faces during
the Deopokhari celebrations (photo from the festival in 2013)
Final
struggle: Villagers crowd round the pond to watch over the traditional
competition, which sees nine men from the Khokana village compete to
kill a goat (photo from the festival in 2012)
Shocking violence: The very physical
celebration is a spectacle for the whole village, but animal rights
charity PETA has claimed it damages Nepal's international
reputation (photo from the festival in 2012)
Eventual winner: The victor is the man
who eventually kills the goat, which experiences an agonising death in
the name of tradition (photo from the festival in 2014)
The games begin: A man dives into the
Deu pond in the centre of the village, as residents crowd round and even
climb on roofs to get a better view (photo from the festival in 2012)
Watching on: Everyone from the Khokana
village crowds round the watch the traditional celebration. The
festival dates back to the 12th century when villagers began drowning a
goat to appease the gods perceived to live in the pond, after a child
drowned in it (photo from the festival in 2013)
Spectacle: Children peer through fence
around the Deu pond, near the Rudrayani Temple in Khokana village, to
get a better view (photo from the festival in 2013)
Distressing: A child seems disturbed
as he looks on through the metal green bars of a fence to see the goat
being sacrificed, which has been branded 'disgusting' by animal
charities (photo from the festival in 2012)
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