British Guiana 1898 : Punishment for Sodomy meted out to Nabi Baksh and Mohangoo on the Mersey

Between 1838 and 1917, the British brought indentured labour from India to the then British Guiana. 

An 1898 report from the Governor of British Guiana to the Colonial Office in England reports on the punishment meted out by the Surgeon Superintendent of the Mersey against two men Nabi Baksh and Mohangoo for committing sodomy.

"Nobibux was put in irons and Mohangu, after blistering his penis, was made to holystone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily." The Surgeon Superintendent said that he had "known of cases where the penis had been blistered, as a prevention treatment, in cases of Masturbation with boys"

When the ship docked in British Guiana, there was an investigation which included testimony from others on the ship.

This report was donated by author Gaiutra Bahadur. Ms Bahadur got the report from the Colonial Office Correspondence books at the UK National Archives at Kew, United Kingdom while doing research for her soon to be published book "Coolie Woman"  

"Coolie Woman" is scheduled to be published by The University of Chicago Press in the US and Hurst & Co. in the UK. An excerpt from the book first appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of the U.S. literary magazine The Virginia Quarterly Review (http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2011/spring/bahadur-coolie/) and was then reprinted in India in the Sept. 2011 issue of The Caravan magazine. The whole excerpt is up at the Caravan's Web site: http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/1058/Her-Middle-Passage.html

Gaiutra Bahadur shared her notes from the report which consisted of a mix of handwritten and typescript pages. She also donated images of the relevant pages.

 

Notes from the Report

Mersey arrived October 31, 1898
Dr. Arthur Harrison, Surgeon Superintendent (SS)
G.H. Rock, Captain

September 25: "No 696, Nobibux, m., 20 years, and No 351 Mohangu, m, 22 years, were caught about midnight by a sirdar named Rambocus committing sodomy. When brought up before the Captain and myself they both confessed their guilt. Nobibux stated that for the last ten years he had allowed men to commit acts of beastliness: he had no doubt induced Mohangu to do this criminal act. Nobibux was put in irons and Mohangu, after blistering his penis, was made to holystone [scrub the decks] from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily." [latitude 35.17 s. and longitude 22.10 e.]

[Nobibux handcuffed every night from Sept 25 to landing on Oct 31, as was a man who had jumped overboard and was rescued]

Criminal charges brought against two immigrants; in CO marginalia, discussion over the legality of the punishment and doubt expressed over whether there was any sodomy committed at all; indication there wasn't enough proof to prosecute: "the men should have been put in confinement and tried in British Guiana for an offense committed on the high seas on board a British vessel..."; fine the surgeon but should he be barred from re-employment?

Inspector General of Police investigated; Attorney General decided not to prosecute; IAG criticizes SS for punishing the two without fully and carefully enquiring into the case. violated Rule 165 relating to colonial emigration, which strictly prohibits harsh treatment of the people

Arthur Harrison, SS, states on November 4, 1898:

[on 25th Sept, when near the Cape of Good Hope, his compounder Abdul Wahed reported to him at 8 a.m. that he heard two men had committed sodomy during the night. he told the compounder to take the men to the hospital, where he would question them.]

[witness, the sirdar Rambuccus, brought in with the two men. questioned in front of them, he said that he was on watch in between decks at midnight and "saw something unusual between these two men, they being under one blanket; he pulled off the blanket and saw them committing sodomy." he called the head sirdar at once. the prisoners denied it to the head sirdar but then later confessed. they were left in the charge of the hear sirdar for the rest of the night. captain also present at inquiry. while Rambuccus was giving this testimony,
neither prisoner said anything.]


[the head sirdar Salikram is then questioned. confirms being called as above. says he separated the men and "asked them why they were doing this wrong thing, that they at first denied it and afterwards they confessed they did it for pleasure."]


[when questioned by SS, the men at once confessed. Nabibux: "I have done it." Mohungu said same, "as far as I can remember. I cannot remember the words they used in confessing." 

Nabibux placed in irons fastened to a stanchion in the hospital. Mohangu placed in hospital and ordered to holystone from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. "I blistered the penis of Mohungu. I
did so as a punishment as I thought he deserved it." did this right after enquiry concluded. the captain knew Harrison did this. "Mohungu was the man who committed the act on Nabibuccus. I blistered him as a preventitive, as he might have attempted the act again. I have known cases where the penis has been blistered as a preventitive treatment, in case of masturbation with boys."]

[says he didn't see it as a crime committed against the laws of England, but "as a matter of discipline on board ship"; didn't examine their private parts for evidence]

"Since this all occurred, it has come to my knowledge that the head sirdar had threatened the two men to make them confess. Since I heard this, I have questioned them. Both denied the act and said Salikram had threatened to make them confess.

My compounder's name is Abdul Wahed. I have heard from him since that the man Rambuccus who caught them had a spite against one of the men, owing to something that had occurred in the country Depot in India."

ABDUL WAHED, THE CHIEF COMPOUNDER, STATES:

[the inquiry occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on the 25th Sept.]
"I heard Mohungu say he had put his penis in Nabibux' anus, and some days afterwards both men said to me that Rambux and Salikram had threatened to beat them throughout the voyage if they did not confess to having committed the sodomy."

"Nabibux told me that he and Rambux had had a row in the Fizabad depot and he told me that Rambux had a spite against him." [the prisoners were under his charge in the hospital]
[doesn't know what the depot quarrel was about. didn't ask. never noticed any ill feeling between Rambux and any of the men before this happened. never noticed Mohangu and Nabibux to be much in each other's company]

RAMBUCCUS
[an Ahir. says he knew Nabibuccus for a month in the Fyzabad depot,
where he was a sirdar]

"The men were under a platform sleeping. There were other coolies sleeping there too. The men were sleeping in their usual place... I noticed two men under one blanket. I have orders not to allow this, so I hauled the blanket off. Mohangu was on top of Nabibux who was lying
on his back. Mahangu was lying on his stomach. I asked them what they were doing. They gave no reply. Mahangu came off. I did not see his private parts. His baba was loose. I did not notice the state of Nabibux' baba. He had it on, but I don't know whether the crupper of
the baba was undone or not. I did not see his private parts. I did not see his anus. I did not see Mahungu's penis in Nabibux' anus, but from their position I suspected that they were committing sodomy... These two men always slept together during the voyage."

SALIKRAM
"They said Rambux hauled the blanket and shook them up while they were asleep. Rambuccus said they were committing sodomy but I don't think they were. They appeared to me just as if they had just been awakened. Their eyes seemed heavy with sleep."

"I never knew either of these men before I met them onboard. Myself and Rambuccus do not agree. I never noticed Rambuccus and either of the two men have any quarrel. I never noticed Nabibux and Monungu keeping much company. I don't know whether these men were in the habit of sleeping alongside of one another. I never threatened these men to make them confess. I never heard the men confess they had done it. They did not confess before me."

IN THE END: 50 pounds deducted from Harrison's gratuity for inflicting corporal punishment

 

Other reports of gay sex

Ms Bahadur also shared that she  found one other reference to gay sex in the 63 ship reports she examined. On the ship The Brenda in 1892, one of the immigrants Mathura was accused by another man, Nanku, "of having attempted on 14th October an unnatural offence," in the words of the Immigration Agent General, who reported this case to the police. Mathura was charged before the police magistrate and referred to Supreme Court for trial

Emigration Pass : Mohangoo bound for Rose Hall Estate

Emigration Pass for Nabi Baksh bound for Vergenoegen

The scanned images of the diary with the full text of the letters and statements  can be viewed on the Caribbean IRN Collection of the Digital Library of the Caribbean.