Like pious Hindus as they were, the Badhaks were accustomed, whenever
it was possible, to preserve the bones of their dead after the body
had been burnt and carry them to the Ganges. If this was not possible,
however, and the exigencies of their profession obliged them to make
away with the body without the performance of due funeral rites,
they cut off two or three fingers and sent these to the Ganges to
be deposited instead of the whole body. [63] In one case a dacoit,
Kundana, was killed in an affray, and the others carried off his body
and thrust it into a porcupine's hole after cutting off three of the
fingers. "We gave Kundana's fingers to his mother," Ajit Singh stated,
"and she sent them with due offerings and ceremonies to the Ganges
by the hands of the family priest. She gave this priest money to
purchase a cow, to be presented to the priests in the name of her
deceased son, and to distribute in charity to the poor and to holy
men. She got from us for these purposes eighty rupees over and above
her son's share of the booty, while his widow and children continued
to receive their usual share of the takings of the gang so long as
they remained with us."