Man cuts off right hand for goddess (And major charge)

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22169814-5001028,00.html

From correspondents in Kathmandu

July 31, 2007 11:28pm

A YOUNG man in Nepal today chopped off his right hand as an offering to a feared Hindu goddess, state-run media reported.

“He offered special worship at the temple this morning,” the national RSS news agency said.

“After the worship, he chopped off his right hand and offered (it) to the temple of Goddess Kali.”

The 23-year-old survived the amputation by a kukhuri, a traditional curved Nepalese knife, and was in stable condition at a hospital in Biratnagar, 250km southeast of Kathmandu, the news agency reported.

It was not known why he sacrificed his hand.

Impoverished Nepal is a deeply traditional and religious country where around 80 per cent of the 27 million people are Hindu.

Kali is a multi-armed Hindu deity often associated with destruction