snopes.com - Asian Mafia body disposal (gruesome)

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Jenn	16 January 2010 12:15 AM

Asian Mafia body disposal (gruesome)

Jenn	16 January 2010 12:15 AM

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesom...turebody09.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesom...turebody10.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesom...turebody11.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesom...turebody12.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesom...turebody13.jpg

Ariadne

16 January 2010 12:30 AM

Isn't this a traditional way of disposing of the dead in some cultures? It's been a long time, but I once took an anthropology class about death rituals and it seems this happens somewhere in India.

Personally, I wouldn't mind being disposed of in this way. Circle of life and all that.

ETA: It seems to be Zoroastrainism. From this article on Asian vultures:

Quote:

India's Zoroastrian community – known as Parsis – are also feeling the loss of the once-abundant birds. For centuries they have relied on the vultures to dispose of their dead, leaving bodies out in the open to be consumed by the birds.

It is against the Parsis' faith to bury, burn or submerge their dead in water, which means vultures provided them with a hygienic solution. An entire human carcass can be consumed to the bone within a matter of hours by a large group of vultures. But now that their numbers are dwindling, half-eaten bodies can be left for days, leaving the community susceptible to disease.

I'm sure there is a better source out there, but I'm on my way out and don't have time to look. I don't know if that's what is happening here, but it seems possible.

Pudding Crawl

16 January 2010 12:30 AM

Looks like a sky burial.

Jay Tea

16 January 2010 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pudding Crawl (Post 1135162)

Looks like a sky burial.

I'd agree. The phrase 'Asian Mafia' is too nebulous, and even if it were bad guys, why is there a tourist looking on in the third picture of the first set? :lol:

Also, in the second of the first set we see what looks like the fire-pits of quite a party. The only bit i'm not sure about is the bones - do sky burials involve any process with the remains? There are plenty of birds who will quite happily swallow human bones whole...

Floater

16 January 2010 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pudding Crawl (Post 1135162)

Looks like a sky burial.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay Tea (Post 1135219)

I'd agree.

So do I and the people present look very Tibetan to me.

TrishDaDish

16 January 2010 02:25 PM

The man handling the remains looks very sad. What member of "Asian mafia" would react like that? I mean, besides Ichi the Killer?

Pudding Crawl

16 January 2010 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ariadne (Post 1135161)

ETA: It seems to be Zoroastrainism. From this article on Asian vultures:

It's the same process, but the Zoroastrian version involves a special structure for the remains, the dakhma, or towers of silence, whereas 'sky burial' is on an open mountainside and some initial processing of the corpse is involved.
The Indian government moved to begin disuse of the vulture-slayin' diclofenac in 2005, so there is some hope that the situation will improve, or at least that the vultures won't be killed off so quickly. But a 95% decline does not give much cause for optimism.

frogpond

16 January 2010 04:34 PM

I first encountered the concept of the sky burial in one of Neil Gaiman's Sandman books. It sounds horrific at first but it was portrayed as a very respectful ritual.

rswarrior

06 April 2010 11:40 PM

Got this today in email titled as: Colombian Drug Dealers. *sigh*

Cervus

07 April 2010 03:51 PM

It is a Tibetan Sky Burial. The photos were pulled from this blog (obviously NSFW).

The books I've read about Tibet and its people (mainly anthropology/travel books) all state that sky burials are considered sacred and photography and observation by tourists is forbidden. However, a brief web search shows that these considerations aren't always followed, or else are allowed with some restrictions.

RCIAG

07 April 2010 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrishDaDish (Post 1135416)

The man handling the remains looks very sad. What member of "Asian mafia" would react like that?

This was my first thought too, he looks like he's crying.

That seems like a lot of work for criminals to go to in order to dispose of a body. I can't imagine any mafia member of any kind doing it just to get rid of all the evidence. There's gotta be easier & faster ways of body disposal than flaying the body & leaving it to the animals then pulverizing the bones.

I like the idea of a sky burial though.

Jay Tea

07 April 2010 04:19 PM

Would you say that Griffons were responsible Cervus?

I was watching TV featuring Himalayan Vultures which learned to smash bones from a height in order to swallow them down. They were guzzling some huge pieces of dead yak that's for sure, to the point where they were having difficulty taking off again :lol:

Beautiful creatures.

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