Pigs pay in Penhos purge

Pigs pay in Penhos purge

TENGGARONG, East Kalimantan: Hundreds of visitors thronged to
see the traditional Penhos ritual here on Tuesday, a ceremony
periodically held by the Bahau Dayak tribe to purge their village
of the sins of adulterers.

According to a village elder, Gerigit, the rite was meant to
punish anyone who committed adultery which was strictly forbidden
by the customary law of the Bahau Dayak tribe.

"This rite which is intended to free the village from curses
and to bring adulterers to justice always draws public
attention," he said.

He said any couple caught having sex outside marriage would be
paraded through the village before they were expelled from the
village.

He said if the adulterer could not afford to sacrifice a pig
for the ceremony, their friends or other villagers would have to
donate a pig to enable them to perform the rite.

Rejected village members could return to the village only to
see their relatives.--Antara