By Daphunlin M. Warjri
The fact about with our state is that there has been this blood shedding ritual killing that has been going on since time immemorial. The locals called these murderous criminals “menshohnoh”, and for the non-locals the translation would be “male hunters”. These “menshohnoh” as the correct connotation, would hunt down any person for extracting human blood; but blood only of the indigenous Khasi people of the Khasi Hills, a small region in the state of Meghalaya.
These blood-hunting criminals do so because they are harbouring a serpent, which the Khasi call “ U Thlen,” who only wants Khasi blood, and in return, it gives them immense wealth and luxury to those families. However they are bound to never break the deal. And they would have to sacrifice one of their family members if they fail to quench the thirst of the serpent.
The question arises as to why this serpent wants only the blood of the local indigenous Khasi, but not the outsiders’ blood. The fact is that the serpent is unleashing its vengeance, particularly on the Khasi community, because it has been betrayed by them.
The story dates back a long time when it was said that this serpent was caught in one of the caves in the region of Sohra popularly known as Cherrapunjee, in the region now called, the “Kshaid Daiñ Thlen” (translation of this would be “the waterfall where they severed the serpent”) – where one lone courageous man went inside the cave and with a hot iron rod poked into the insides of the serpent and killed it. After that the village kept a feast, and decided to cook and eat the meat of the dead serpent with friends and families.
One woman however,out of love for her son kept chunks of meat for him to have when he returned from work. She kept the meat in the cupboard but forgot about it and the days passed by. Then after about a month, she heard a voice calling out her name. She was terrified and trembled as there was no one else at home,
“Who could be calling out my name when there is no one at home?”, she was scared out of her wits. She realized that the voice was coming from the cupboard, and shrieked. The small serpent started to crawl from inside and spoke again with a voice so terrible and devious,
“Woman!, what is it that you fear so much?”, “Is it the fear that the villagers will find out?” “Or is it that you fear me?” The woman was speechless and numb.
“Did you not know that I can help you gain so much from this world? the serpent said. The woman trembled and mumbled, “Why are you still alive when we have killed you?”,
“You weak and foolish humans would not have the power to comprehend. Your men have slain me, because of their cowardice but yet I still speak to you now! Just obey and do whatever I tell you. I will spare you and your family, and give you all that you desire,” replied the serpent.
The woman exclaimed, “What is it that you want from me?!”
The serpent responded, “I want the blood of your kind, for it had entrapped and killed me in a very dishonourable manner. I want their souls, and it is the only way I can regain my full power.”
“What if I don’t fulfill what you want?”, the woman replied hesitantly.
“Then you and your whole family will suffer, perish and rot!”, the serpent reprimanded in a voice so terrible that darkness engulfed the whole house.
“Okay, I shall do it! But please spare me and my family!”, the woman begged.
The serpent spoke, “Today I make a covenant with you that I shall spare you and your family, with a pact that in every season you shall give me the blood of your kind, and in return, I shall give you wealth and power. But if you fail to do so, I shall drink the blood of your family members each time you do not concede to my wants.”
“But how can I do that? My family and I are good, reputable people of the village, I would not even dare to kill a fly, how would I do it?” the woman asked.
“You do not need to worry about it, I will give power to you and your sons to draw blood from men and women and if you cannot do so I only require human hair, or piece of garment, or fingernails,” said the serpent.
From then on, the woman sealed the pact of blood. And the murder of small children, women and men who went out to the fields in desolateness and isolation started and till this day the incidents of finding dead bodies with their bloody nose and fingernails extracted would be heard every now and again.
In reality, some people even have experienced strange dreams at night, and when they ignored these signs they started to have medical conditions that science or medicine cannot cure. They would become malnourished. The locals believe that these are the signs that the serpent is slowly swallowing them. The only thing the Khasis who have experienced these would do is to go to a certain clan called the “Syiem,” (it is believed that the man who went alone inside the cave to kill the serpent was from this clan; hence the reason why this is the only clan which can kill the effect of the serpent’s curse). Those people who failed to meet the Syiem clan for the required ritual would lose their family member to the serpent’s curse. The majority of Khasis believe this legend to be true, except those who had never experienced it themselves. Just as in other Indian states and communities elsewhere have black magic and voodoo, so also the Khasis of Meghalaya have this kind of mysterious dark magic and curse.
The problem with a society that only relies on scientific intervention and knowledge is that these supernatural realities are a mystery to them. The law does not or cannot define this supernatural phenomenon. Law enforcement calls it a superstitious belief and backwardness. The sad part is that the State’s law enforcement agencies have failed to investigate and to break the pattern of these criminals (“menshohnoh”). The ruthless killings by these criminals with the same pattern of killings are a mockery and a disgrace to the entire police force and the legislature as a whole.
What made these human-hunters/menshohnoh so deranged and dangerous, is that the locals believe that before their hunt they would drink an alcoholic substance called the “Kyiad kyntangsnem”, meaning an “alcoholic drink which has been ritualistically consecrated by praying to a dark entity. But one may question as to how they could perform such organized killings when they are under intoxication. The only way we could find answers to this one is not by ourselves but by specialized agencies known as “criminologists”. These criminologists specialize in understanding the psychology of criminals by either investigating the crime scene or by interrogating a criminal himself. But the sad truth is that India does not have a separate department for criminology. It is a matter of concern because India is a vast country where resources are scarce and with a huge population is also burdened with crimes of different nature. Such organised crimes are bound to rise while the law enforcement agency is still very unorganized in the manner of providing service. There is not much real investigation for crimes and when criminals are apprehended the judiciary would again lag in their way of providing equality and justice. Proper investigation should be conducted and night patrolling should be initiated on a daily basis.
Inspiration should be taken from cases like the Manvath Murders which happened during the 1970s and were solved with careful investigation. In this case the gruesomeness of the crimes had sent shock waves across the nation where women and children were killed or one can say sacrificed to a tree deity for fertility and prosperity. The Maharashtra Police Force did a fantastic job in disentangling every notion of impossibility to crack the case. Just recently also one boy was sacrificed to bring success to the school in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh and all the culprits have been arrested and are undergoing trial.
The sad reality is that if in other states these ritual murderers are being arrested and punished, what is stopping our state from doing so? Is it the lack of resources or the lack of resourceful people? What is the whole point of surveillance machinery when we can’t get access to it to find the robbers? The State’s security and safety cannot be jeopardized any longer just because we are a backward region.