 | 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
Droits : All rights reserved by the source institution.
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