April 18, 2023

"The couple first prepared a fire altar before putting their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope."

"As soon as they released the rope, an iron blade fell on them, severing their heads, which rolled into the fire."

Said a police inspector in an Indian village, quoted in "Couple beheaded themselves with homemade guillotine as a sacrifice" (NY Post).
The couple had been worshiping the god Shiva — one of the main deities of Hinduism — at an improvised temple they had set up on their property every day for the past year.

50 comments:

rhhardin said...

A sacrifice to the god Rube.

tim maguire said...

Well, I guess if people can shoot themselves in the back, they can can cut their own heads off and throw them in the fire.

cassandra lite said...

"The case was being investigated as an accidental death and the victims’ bodies were sent to a coroner’s office to undergo autopsies."

Accidental? Autopsies?

RideSpaceMountain said...

Well, considering the 2 most popular methods of suicide in India are throwing oneself under a train and lighting oneself on fire (culturally acceptable, see 'jauhar' and 'sati'), you gotta give these folks credit for creativity. It certainly didn't conform to the norm.

typingtalker said...

The couple had been worshiping the god Shiva —

So ... those who only worship the almighty dollar aren't so crazy.

typingtalker said...

Award for comment of the week to rhhardin.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Speaking of people who should be be-headed.

Congressional probe uncovers tie between Biden campaign, security letter dismissing Hunter laptop

BarrySanders20 said...

Now that's commitment to the cause. Let none say they were not true believers.

Dave Begley said...

Why not? Better than getting your privates cut off as a sacrifice to the Cult of Transgenderism.

Enigma said...

If you are going to commit suicide, this is at least a creative way to go (see prior post today). Of course the most important question is whether they were capitalists.

I wonder if the left will move toward guillotine control laws after they ban and confiscate all guns. They ought to ban cliffs, tall buildings, and bridges too, as these facilitate suicide and disproportionately affect people with mental illness.

Humperdink said...

Curious as to whether they patented their mechanical apparatus. On the down side, their carbon footprint increased when their heads hit the fire. I suppose it's better than crap hitting the fan.

traditionalguy said...

Another suicide. But this one clearly was caused by a demon talking them into it. All the others were too, but not so clearly.

Cappy said...

Yeef.

Cappy said...

Dave Begley -

"To please the goddess and amaze her
Cut off your schween with a rusty razor"

National Lampoon's Bored of the Rings.

Breezy said...

From wiki re: Shiva

…”For example, historical records suggest the tantric Kapalikas (literally, the 'skull-men') co-existed with and shared many Vajrayana Buddhist rituals, engaged in esoteric practices that revered Shiva and Shakti wearing skulls, begged with empty skulls, and sometimes used meat as a part of ritual.”…

It appears they were donating their skulls to their god. ??

Tom T. said...

Their kids, ages 12 and 13, found the headless bodies when they came home. That is some powerful mental illness that leads you to scar your own children for life in that way.

Iman said...

Now THAT is commitment!

Dave said...

Shiva is often called The Destroyer. Perhaps not without reason.

I am looking at the Hindu pantheon now to see if there is any God known as The Giver of Beautiful Women and Nice Cars.

GRW3 said...

The records from the French Revolution talk about how, when the severed heads were held up, they would look around terrified and try to talk. If they did this to spare themselves the pain of burning alive, they may have made a mistake.

RideSpaceMountain said...

I once read about a guy who invented his own suicide machine. It involved a shotgun, timers, restraint harness (I'm unclear if the harness was vegan or not), and solenoid locking systems.

The idea was that once he made the choice to go through with it, the decision would've been irreversible as the countdown included an automated restraint system that prevented escape before the shotgun was fired. Pretty ingenious actually. Although he built the thing as I recall he never used it. I remember that upon activation the whole sequence lasted 30 seconds...I guess he figured that was an awfully long time to wait and think before shoving off.

Earnest Prole said...

When you set about a-worshiping try not to lose your head.

gilbar said...

This is SO COOL!
EVERY ONE that is concerned about global warming should try this!
EVERY ONE that is concerned about gender dysphoria should try this!
heck! EVERY ONE that is isn't a Christian should try this!

Rusty said...

Good thing Christianity and Judaism did away with all that nonsense.
On the reverse side our new secular progressive religion demands a sacrifice of children.
Which is much worse.

tommyesq said...

Another suicide.

Or murder suicide - I assume only one of them actually released the rope.

madAsHell said...

A Guillotine built for two.

I don't think it will ever catch on as a snappy little song.

rcocean said...

You have to admire the ingenuity - even though the Goal seems rather dubious.

n.n said...

Human rites. Liberal and progressive religions. Self-abortion is still a more honorable Choice than abortion.

Wince said...

"The couple first prepared a fire altar before putting their heads under a guillotine-like mechanism held by a rope."

On first glance I reversed the second and third words of the post headline in my mind.

Which made a certain amount of sense, until I realized they’d only do that with everyone else’s head.

MadTownGuy said...

Iman said...

"Now THAT is commitment!"

Reminds me of a saying from one of my managers: "In a ham & eggs breakfast, the chicken is interested, but the pig is committed." My response: "That's a poor bargain for the pig."

M Jordan said...

I'd think you'd get at least two or three seconds of thought-time before TOTAL DARKNESS. I literally watched chickens in our back yard running around headless when my Grandpa showed us how we get drumsticks on the table. I'm curious what their last thoughts were in that brief moment before blackness set in. I'd be thinking, "This Shiva thing better have been true or I made a biiiiggg mistake."

M said...

Hindus murder many people, often children, in the name of Shiva every year. At least these two only sacrificed themselves.

Rt41Rebel said...

At least they died doing what they loved.

Iman said...

Sting hardest hit.

narciso said...

so for vishnu they throw themselves in the volcano

Narr said...

They set up an improvised temple on their property, every day for the past year?

Maybe they just tired of all the work.

JaimeRoberto said...

That's now way to get ahead.

Bob Boyd said...

I wonder if the left will move toward guillotine control laws...

Especially high-capacity guillotines like this one.

dbp said...

"Enigma said...
If you are going to commit suicide, this is at least a creative way to go (see prior post today). Of course the most important question is whether they were capitalists."

They were decapitatists

dbp said...

Gruesome and awful as it is to let your children find you that way and to make them into orphans, the machine worked on the first try.

The final thing they did in this world was at least a success.

Bob Boyd said...

We're they organ donors?

Ampersand said...

Lots of religious belief and practice centers upon the anguish and mystery surrounding death, and the ways in which our individual mortal existences are subordinate and inferior to some transcendent post-mortal plane of existence. It is a testament to the strength of our hard-wired survival instinct that so few people commit suicide in the name of religious belief.

On a different note, if the parents go to hell, the NY Post can report, "Headless Parents in Bottomless Hole".

Owen said...

dbp @ 1:51: "...decapitatists."

ISWYDT

Rusty said...

Bob Boyd wins the thread.

Doug said...

I applaud their stupidity and thank them for strengthening the gene pool

YoungHegelian said...

Man! At least when the Jews "sit Shiva", the only thing that gets sliced are the lox and bagels!

If push comes to shove, I know how I'm gonna convert!

Krumhorn said...

In 1975, an electroencephalogram study of decapitated rats showed EEG activation 13 seconds later. A 2013 study showed increased EEG frequency bands in rats after decapitation. In each case, it was concluded that these were pain responses.

That would be plenty of time for these idiots to savor the fire.

I'm reminded of Trump's comment about shithole countries.

- Krumhorn

James K said...

I'd think you'd get at least two or three seconds of thought-time before TOTAL DARKNESS

Apparently the oft-repeated story of Lavoisier saying he would blink as long as he could (and doing so) after being guillotined is apocryphal. But Cecil Adams (The Straight Dope) concludes that it is possible that there's a period of consciousness (for a few seconds) after decapitation.

Does the Head Remain Briefly Conscious after Decapitation?

walter said...

I guess, like fish, they think it less gruesome minus the head.

Robert Cook said...

“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”--Voltaire

Though the teachings of some wise men may provide admirable practical advice for living one's life, belief in gods and a supernatural after-life existence in their domains is absurd.

Joe Smith said...

'A sacrifice to the god Rube.'

My first thought.

The blade galling should have been the culmination of dominoes, levers, pulleys, etc. leading up to the big moment.

Maybe they weren't getting along.

Maybe they just wanted to be separated...