Indians parade bones, baby's corpse in "Skull Game"*

Reuters
Friday, April 13, 2007; 10:26 AM

SONA PALASI, India (Reuters) - Villagers in the eastern Indian state of
West Bengal on Friday celebrated their new year by parading and dancing
with unearthed human skulls and the corpse of a baby, prompting a police
investigation.

The "Naramundo Khela" (Skull Game) is a ritual that appears only to take
place in the village of Sona Palasi. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva, a
Hindu deity who is depicted by a snake around his neck, and marks the
start of the Bengali New Year on April 15.

As part of the festival, some villagers carrying skulls and daggers
danced to rhythmic drum beats with their bodies covered with white ash
and spotted with red and green paints as around 2,000 other people watched.

One villager danced with the corpse of a baby.

Villagers say that they have carried out this ritual in previous years.

"Dead bodies are dug up and their heads are severed and then used during
the festival," said Debdas Biswas, 58, living in the village which is
around 165 km (102 miles) west of Kolkata, the state capital.

"This has been happening for ages. If this does not happen we will feel
that the significance of the ritual has come down." The local
authorities said they had no prior information of such an event
happening in the area.

Police confirmed that villagers danced with human skulls and the baby's
corpse.

"We have heard about this and at the moment investigating the case,"
Peeyush Pandey, a senior police official, said.

He added they were checking to see if the ritual was illegal.

"This kind of act is barbaric and would do a lot of harm to the society
rather than invoke the Gods," Bonani Kakkar, environmental and social
activist said.