A transgender woman identified as Kali, also known as Nandigiti Shivvishnu Brahma, has been arrested by police after a video of her at a funeral ground went viral on social media.
Kali, who claimed to be an Aghori, was seen in the video at a funeral site covering herself with funeral ash before appearing to eat some of it.
The video also showed the woman claiming that what she was eating was human flesh.
Kali was arrested on Tuesday, while members of the Aghori community have condemned her actions and described them as disrespectful to their spiritual tradition.
Members of the community also called for bail to be denied, insisting that the act should not be repeated.
The Aghori are an extreme monastic order of Hindu ascetic sadhus in India who worship Lord Shiva and seek spiritual liberation, known as moksha, by intentionally going against societal taboos and conventional ideas of ritual purity.
Reacting to the video, Ujjain-based Aghori practitioner Rajnath Pampi told ThePrint that the act does not form part of Aghori religious teachings.
He said: “Touching human body parts is not written in any scriptures, and the incident was done to highlight herself, bringing all Aghori babas in a bad light”
Police said Kali was arrested at the Jiwajigang Police Station following the circulation of the video.
The footage showed a burning funeral pyre on one side while the Kinnar Aghori was seen holding a sword on the other.
She was then seen removing a piece from the funeral pyre before appearing to eat it while being filmed.
Another Aghori practitioner, Pandit Jaydeep Dubey, also condemned the incident and said the actions had brought embarrassment to members of the community.
He told ThePrint:
“The accused is an Aghori practitioner, but what they have done has brought shame to all of us. People’s body parts cannot be eaten. It is not written in any scriptures; we condemn this act. The accused could still secure bail, but we don’t want that to happen. We want them to be imprisoned; they should not repeat this,”
The incident has drawn attention to the practices associated with the Aghori tradition and the debate over actions that members of the community say have no basis in their scriptures.
See the video below………