Buddhist Temple Purges Ghosts of 2,000 Aborted Fetuses

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Mournful Buddhist monks performed rituals to purge ghosts from a temple where more than 2,000 illegally aborted fetuses were hidden awaiting a secret cremation, but police said abortionists are now doing the operation in pregnant females' homes to avoid arrest.

The seized fetuses were not cremated and instead kept for DNA tests and autopsies, to determine their age, cause of death, and possibly their parents' identification.

During Saturday's (November 27) ceremony at the Phai Ngern Chotanaram temple in Bangkok, the 2,002 fetuses were ceremoniously given names, written on pieces of paper, which were gently placed in a coffin and carried around the crematorium three times.

Circumambulation is an ancient, spiritually beneficial ritual which some trace back to India's Hindu ceremonies when such encircling reverently symbolized what was perceived then as the sun's path around the earth.

Today, circumambulation is believed by many Buddhists to blot out sins and ward off sinister influences, purifying whatever is in the center of the circle.

Hundreds of people attended the morning ceremony, including a representative from anti-abortionist Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's office, alongside Bangkok's governor, senior police officials, and top monks from 20 other Buddhist temples in Bangkok.

People placed pieces of sweet-smelling sandalwood, carved into floral shapes, at the crematorium and poured small amounts of lustral water.

Thais are taught by Buddhist monks that abortion is a sin because it is very difficult to be born as a human.

Many people are also terrified of ghosts, and believe the revengeful spirit of an aborted fetus is especially dangerous because it lingers to haunt the mother and others who helped kill the unborn baby.

The ritual was staged to convince people that the 2,002 fetuses' ghosts were being boosted on their way toward reincarnation, and no longer threatened anyone.

More important perhaps for the monks, the ritual was also to show the public that the Buddhist temple was now cleansed of the sins, and no evil spirits are menacing the urban site.

If people thought the temple was haunted, they might stay away and decrease the amount of cash, food and other donations routinely offered to its monks, which could push the temple into financial ruin because most temples depend on public support.

Officials removed the 2,002 bagged fetuses last week from the temple's mortuary vaults where they were secretly stored while drying out for burning, after an illegal abortionist allegedly bribed the temple's two undertakers to destroy them.

Most Buddhist temples in Thailand include a crematorium, topped by a tall, slender, decorated chimney and allow the corpses of anyone, regardless of religion or nationality, to be cremated in a funeral.

The temple's two undertakers had allegedly been stuffing the temple's coffin vaults since November 2009, planning to discreetly include the shriveled fetuses in the temple's occasional mass cremation for unclaimed bodies.

The temple's industrial-strength crematorium furnace however was apparently broken, resulting in the fetuses piling up inside the large rectangular vaults -- which began emitting foul odors -- causing visitors and monks to uncover the grisly plot on November 16.

The temple's senior monks denied any knowledge of the crime.

In response the fetus scandal, police unleashed a crackdown against illegal abortions and uncovered more than 100,000 counterfeit pills in Bangkok on November 23, manufactured to induce miscarriages and sold to females for personal use and to illegal clinics.

Hoping to avoid police raids on their clinics, some illegal abortionists temporarily shut their doors and offered house-calls, to perform the operation at a female's home or secret location, which could mean worse conditions, non-sterile equipment, and increased health risks, police said.

"Mobile abortion services" were becoming popular, especially among wealthy clients, said Police Lt. Col. Khanathat Musikanon of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division.

The temple, meanwhile, planned more ceremonies to be held after seven days, then again on the 50th day and on the 100th day, which is the traditional schedule for post-funeral events in Thailand where 90 percent of the population are Buddhists, influenced by pre-Buddhist Hindu and animist beliefs.

Police arrested Lanchakorn Jantamanas, 33, last week for allegedly performing the abortions, and said she paid off the two undertakers, who were also detained.

Her mother was being investigated for allegedly raising at least three children who survived botched abortions done by the daughter.

The three children did not possess birth certificates, the Public Health Ministry said.

Officials were checking reports that five more children may also be alive after living through the procedures.

After lengthy campaigning by Buddhist hardliners decades ago, Thailand now allows abortion only for pregnant females who were raped, incest victims, under 15 years old, or whose life is in danger.

Women's rights groups in Thailand said the law must be liberalized to allow females, especially teenagers, to end unwanted pregnancies.

"For every 100,000 women who have illegal abortions, about 300 die," said Kritaya Archavanitkul, deputy director of Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research.

"Religion is an issue which we respect, but an abortion is about a woman's health," she said.

Legalizing abortion "could reduce social problems by reducing low quality people," said a Democrat Party Member of Parliament, Sathit Pitutecha, in support of his bill to make abortions easier.

"The existing laws are appropriate and flexible enough," said Prime Minister Abhisit, who leads the Democrat Party and opposes liberalization.

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. He is co-author of "Hello My Big Big Honey!", a non-fiction book of investigative journalism. His web page is http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com

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