Kasepekang

Yes, they do send people to Coventry in Indonesia! And in the most unlikely of places: Bali!!!! 

No it doesn’t sound too bad I know, but being sent to Coventry in Bali is actually a far worse proposition than being sent to Coventry in England. 

But ostracism anywhere is of course no fun at all and according to psychologists is actually a form of mental abuse (you’ll be well aware of this if you’ve ever been caught by the wife or girlfriend looking at some things on the internet you shouldn’t have, and then she decides to give you the hump for the next few days). 

 But in Bali things are taken to a whole new level: 

If he (Made Rai) leaves his family compound, his neighbors look away and refuse to speak to him. He is banned from the village temples, normally central to Hindu spiritual life in Bali, and when he dies, his body will be rejected from the village cemetery. 

Mr. Rai’s grandchildren, who play at his feet, rarely venture from the family compound and are “psychologically affected” by the situation, he said. 

Unborn when the dispute started, the children are barred from the village school and, under the same village rules, are forbidden to exchange a word with the other children who play in the streets outside. 

To find out why read the complete article in the NY Times.

 

Being ostracized will drive you mad!