The Pardhis still preserve the primitive method of trial by ordeal. If
a woman is suspected of misconduct she is made to pick a pice coin out
of boiling oil; or a pipal leaf is placed on her hand and a red-hot
axe laid over it, and if her hand is burnt or she refuses to stand
the test she is pronounced guilty. Or, in the case of a man, the
accused is made to dive into water; and as he dives an arrow is shot
from a bow. A swift runner fetches and brings back the arrow, and if
the diver can remain under water until the runner has returned he is
held to be innocent. In Nimar, if an unmarried girl becomes pregnant,
two cakes of dough are prepared, a piece of silver being placed in one
and a lump of coal in the other. The girl takes one of the cakes, and
if it is found to contain the coal she is expelled from the community,
while if she chooses the piece of silver, she is pardoned and made over
to one of the caste. The idea of the ordeal is apparently to decide the
question whether her condition was caused by a Pardhi or an outsider.