Eunuchs castrated a man in Sirsa two days ago. He was a dholakia (drum player) with their troupe. They had approached him to accompany them on a round to places where they expected to find their victims, the parents of newly married couples or recently born male children. But he showed his disinclination and had to face the music. If it was a mere five rupees in the olden days, now the ransom to get rid of these pests runs into thousands. Just last month my relatives had to part with Rs.11000/-, comprising cash and a golden ring to escape embarrassment as in case a person is reluctant to pay, they threaten to indulge in indecent exposure, that would be humiliating with the amused crowd watching their tricks. Interestingly there is some superstition attached to this practice. If the eunuchs bless the child or the couple, their future life would be happy and eventful.

 This is not the first case of this type. A few years ago a TV channel had reported a similar case of a handsome Punjabi young man who was similarly castrated. But fortunately when he regained consciousness after three days, he found himself unguarded and made his escape, finally reaching his home in the Punjab. There are umpteen cases when young men are castrated by eunuchs. But seldom are such cases reported. In fact it is a regular practice with them and most of us have taken it as something of a routine, a fact of life such as a goat’s slaughter for meat or hungry panting birds in the cage waiting their turn in front of meat shops or the regular beating of the wife by the husband.

 The eunuchs give some sedative to their targeted victim on some pretext. As they are no experts in such matters, it is not certain that the victim would become unconscious or wouldn’t regain consciousness during the operation. But irrespective of the intensity or otherwise of the sedative and ignoring the pain and suffering of the victim, the eunuchs use physical force if the man is still conscious and castrate him with a shaving razor ignoring his protestations and cries. No anesthesia is ever administered. The dirty dead done, the gaping hole left in the body is filled with some crude methods, as the ugly urchins in the streets do after castrating a pig on the road in total view of the public leaving the hapless animal frothing from the mouth with pain and screaming to the dumb skies. This is a common sight in our villages and towns. But the eunuchs keep a strict watch over the freshly operated man for a few days lest he should free himself and manage to get legal and medical help. A good percentage of such victims die in the process. Off and on such cases do come to light and the police take some action with the semblance of legality and then the incident is forgotten.

A few months back a TV channel had telecast some sting operation like activity.  The channel showed interviews with quacks that were ready to castrate any man clandestinely if paid a few thousand rupees. The quacks claimed themselves experts in their trade and went so far as to assert that they had inherited the expertise from their fathers. They had a wide network of their touts and agents and their trade flourished. I don’t remember if any legal