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CNN reported this story of an Indian tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years, where families would drop their babies off the roof of a building for good luck. They believe that it will bring the baby good health for the rest of thier life. They also say that no babies have been injured from this tradition.
Here is the video of the babies being dropped
What do you think? Is this child abuse? Email us at wakeupcall@endonline.com.
Listener emails
Carolyn wrote,
I don't think that's child abuse, it's more child endangerment. What are they going to say if a child DOES hit the ground and get severely injured or dies? If this is something that has gone on for a while, having to do with religion or culture, why is it just now coming out?
Kelly wrote,
I definitely think it is child abuse because the baby could be injured in the fall even on the mattress or sheet (something could be jarred or sprained or twisted). I just don’t think any cultural explanation could be strong enough to defend dropping babies off a roof for good luck. What is the explanation anyway? I just think it is wrong for sure.
Jessica wrote,
My finace is from Bangladesh, and I don’t understand have the crap they do. But they’ve been doing it for thousands of years…or something like that………and they don’t understand have the crap we Americans do.
Funny, huh?
Dev wrote,
The throwing of Indian babies has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Indian culture or religion. For you to generalize and say on a live radio station without any research of the culture is appalling. Nowhere in the Indian religious text does it state to practice this. This may be some crazy idea concocted by someone. However, the general Indian population does not practice this act in any shape or form. Also an earlier person commented that we have a big feast when a baby is born and that is actually like a baby shower. The baby does not eat human food of course we know babies at that stage can't eat hard foods. So the baby eats baby food and the rest of the folks to celebrate the joyous occasion eat normal day to day foods I think you should apologize to the Indian population for saying this is part of our culture because it makes the rest of us out to look like heathens when we are not.
Latha wrote,
I am an Indian-born and I too was shocked to see it on TV and didn't know such a thing existed even though I lived in India for 24 years. So, just wanted to tell you that this is certainly not a wide-spread practice and not ALL babies in India get dropped like that. This may be happening with a minuscule fraction of the populated in a remote area with illiterates. So, one should not conclude that this kind of barbaric custom is followed by everyone in India.
This would be like the people in India watching the FLDS situation in Texas and going, "Did you see how women and girls are treated in the US? They are locked up in compounds and serve as sister-wives in polygamous relationships and the teenage girls are forcibly impregnated...”
Ingrid wrote,
First of all, let me correct your news. This video was shown in CNN last night. The CNN video is clearer as it shows not a white sheet but the baby falls on the white mattress.
When I was a kid, I never heard that I was thrown off from the roof but as young as I can be, I jumped from the house roof and landed in the mattress. Secondly, not all Indian practiced baby dropping. There are many strange things that Americans see from other culture. However Americans have also a lot of strange practices that other cultures see it “unacceptable”. One example is allowing a 15 yr old with parents consent (Miley Cyrus) having her displayed as a sex symbol. Don’t you think that’s manipulating a famous daughter?
Americans should travel more, spend more money on education, that way Americans in the future would not be ill-informed.
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