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British Guiana 1898 : Punishment for Sodomy meted out to Nabi Baksh and Mohangoo on the Mersey ; Report from the Governor to the Colonial Office
Auteur(s) : Walter Sendall Governor of British Guiana

Résumé : (Donation) This report was donated by Gaiutra Bahadur who came across it in when doing research for her soon to be published book "Coolie Woman" "Coolie Woman" is scheduled to be published in 2012 by The University of Chicago Press in the US and Hurst & Co. in the UK. An excerpt from the book first appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of the U.S. literary magazine The Virginia Quarterly Review (http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2011/spring/bahadur-coolie/) and was then reprinted in India in the Sept. 2011 issue of The Caravan magazine. The whole excerpt is up at the Caravan's Web site: http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/1058/Her-Middle-Passage.html
(Internal Comments) Notes from the Report Arrived October 31, 1898 Dr. Arthur Harrison, SS G.H. Rock, Captain 673 landed 436 men // 438 embarked 191 women // 192 embarked 19 boys 19 girls 8 infants 9 births 4 deaths, one a baby born on board 54 marriages 37 served before in BG, 21 in other colonies * measles epidemic early in voyage until they crossed the Equator, 38 days in, almost daily there were heavy squalls with rain; misery of seasickness, vessel pitching and rolling heavily * got to sea July 14 - the very worst month of the whole year, having to face the full force of the southwest monsoon, Sujaria's would have been the same timing the coal of inferior quality and ran short, meaning water and cooked meals less for immigrants surgeon's journal: july 28: no 167 baijooporai, m, 20, was reported missing at 3 p.m. [cause of death in death list "lost over board" no. 178 lachman states that on 25th instant at sunset baijoo was in his berth suffering from seasickness; later on he saw him take his blanket, get up and go away... lachman states baijoo was a very quiet well-behaved man, shewing no signs of mental aberration, but was very seasick. no further information could be obtained regarding his disappearance. from the emigrants or crew. ... september 25: "No 696, Nobibux, m., 20 years, and No 351 Mohangu, m, 22 years, were caught about midnight by a sirdar named Rambocus committing sodomy. When brought up before the Captain and myself they both confessed their guilt. Nobibux stated that for the last ten years he had allowed men to commit acts of beastliness: he had no doubt induced Mohangu to do this criminal act. Nobibux was put in irons and Mohangu, after blistering his penis, was made to holystone [scrub the decks] from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily." [latitude 35.17 s. and longitude 22.10 e.] [nobibux handcuffed every night from sept 25 to landing on oct 31, as was a man who had jumped overboard and was rescued] criminal charges brought against two immigrants; in CO marginalia, discussion over the legality of the punishment and doubt expressed over whether there was any sodomy committed at all; indication there wasn't enough proof to prosecute: "the men should have been put in confinement and tried in British Guiana for an offense committed on the high seas on board a British vessel..."; fine the surgeon but should he be barred from re-employment? inspector general of police investigated; attorney general decided not to prosecute; IAG criticizes SS for punishing the two without fully and carefully enquiring into the case. violated Rule 165 relating to colonial emigration, which strictly prohibits harsh treatment of the people The contract with the surgeon superintendant enclosed shows that each was granted a pint of wine per day and stout. This surgeon was given 20 shillings per immigrant landed alive. for immigrants classified as invalids on embarking, if they died during voyage, he received a pro-rated amount, based on how long they lived; wife not allowed to go along. Arthur Harrison, SS, states on November 4, 1898: [on 25th Sept, when near the Cape of Good Hope, his compounder Abdul Wahed reported to him at 8 a.m. that he heard two men had committed sodomy during the night. he told the compounder to take the men to the hospital, where he would question them.] [witness, the sirdar Rambuccus, brought in with the two men. questioned in front of them, he said that he was on watch in between decks at midnight and "saw something unusual between these two men, they being under one blanket; he pulled off the blanket and saw them committing sodomy." he called the head sirdar at once. the prisoners denied it to the head sirdar but then later confessed. they were left in the charge of the hear sirdar for the rest of the night. captain also present at inquiry. while Rambuccus was giving this testimony, neither prisoner said anything.] [the head sirdar Salikram is then questioned. confirms being called as above. says he separated the men and "asked them why they were doing this wrong thing, that they at first denied it and afterwards they confessed they did it for pleasure."] [when questioned by SS, men at once confessed. Nabibux: "I have done it." Mohungu said same, "as far as I can remember. I cannot remember the words they used in confessing." Nabibux placed in irons fastened to a stanchion in the hospital. Mohangu placed in hospital and ordered to holystone from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. "I blistered the penis of Mohungu. I did so as a punishment as I thought he deserved it." did this right after enquiry concluded. the captain knew Harrison did this. "Mohungu was the man who committed the act on Nabibuccus. I blistered him as a preventitive, as he might have attempted the act again. I have known cases where the penis has been blistered as a preventitive treatment, in case of masturbation with boys."] [says he didn't see it as a crime committed against the laws of England, but "as a matter of discipline on board ship"; didn't examine their private parts for evidence] "Since this all occurred, it has come to my knowlegde that the head sirdar had threatend the two men to make them confess. Since I heard this, I have questioned them. Both denied the act and said Salikram had threatened to make them confess. My compounder's name is Abdul Wahed. I have heard from him since that the man Rambuccus who caught them had a spite against one of the men, owing to something that had occurred in the country Depot in India." ABDUL WAHED, THE CHIEF COMPOUNDER, STATES: [the inquiry occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on the 25th Sept.] "I heard Mohungu say he had put his penis in Nabibux' anus, and some days afterwards both men said to me that Rambux and Salikram had threatened to beat them throughout the voyage if they did not confess to having committed the sodomy." "Nabibux told me that he and Rambux had had a row in the Fizabad depot and he told me that Rambux had a spite against him." [the prisoners were under his charge in the hospital] [doesn't know what the depot quarrel was about. didn't ask. never noticed any ill feeling between Rambux and any of the men before this happened. never noticed Mohangu and Nabibux to be much in each other's company] RAMBUCCUS [an Ahir. says he knew Nabibuccus for a month in the Fyzabad depot, where he was a sirdar] "The men were under a platform sleeping. There were other coolies sleeping there too. The men were sleeping in their usual place... I noticed two men under one blanket. I have orders not to allow this, so I hauled the blanket off. Mohangu was on top of Nabibux who was lying on his back. Mahangu was lying on his stomach. I asked them what they were doing. They gave no reply. Mahangu came off. I did not see his private parts. His baba was loose. I did not notice the state of Nabibux' baba. He had it on, but I don't know whether the crupper of the baba was undone or not. I did not see his private parts. I did not see his anus. I did not see Mahungu's penis in Nabibux' anus, but from their position I suspected that they were committing sodomy... These two men always slept together during the voyage." SALIKRAM "They said Rambux hauled the blanket and shook them up while they were asleep. Rambuccus said they were committing sodomy but I don't think they were. They appeared to me just as if they had just been awakened. Their eyes seemed heavy with sleep." "I never knew either of these men before I met them onboard. Myself and Rambuccus do not agree. I never noticed Rambuccus and either of the two men have any quarrel. I never noticed Nabibux and Monungu keeping much company. I don't know whether these men were in the habit of sleeping alongside of one another. I never threatened these men to make them confess. I never heard the men confess they had done it. They did not confess before me." IN THE END: 50 pounds deducted from Harrison's gratuity for inflicting corporal punishment

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