KHUJLI GHAR

March 1, 2021

Some villages in Nagaland are trying to revive a traditional form of punishment that seeks to check crime with an itch in time.

About:

  • Social offenders or violators of Naga customary laws have over the ages dreaded a cramped, triangular cage made from the logs of Masang-fung, a local tree that people avoid because of the irritation it causes.

  • The dread is more of humiliation or loss of face within the community or clan than of spending at least a day scratching furiously without any space to move.

  • Such itchy cages are referred to as khujli ghar in Nagamese — a pidgin lingua franca — but each Naga community has its own name. The Aos, one of the major tribes of Nagaland, call it Shi-ki that means flesh-house.

  • The cage is usually placed at a central spot in the village, usually in front of the morung, or bachelor’s dormitory, for the inmate to be in full public view. 

Source : The Hindu