Another list is given of persons whom it was forbidden to kill at any
time, and of these the principal category was women. It was a rule
of all Thugs that women should not be murdered, but one which they
constantly broke, for few large parties consisted solely of men, and
to allow victims to escape from a party would have been a suicidal
policy. In all the important exploits related to Colonel Sleeman
the women who accompanied victims were regularly strangled, with the
occasional exception of young girls who might be saved and married to
the sons of Thug leaders. The breach of the rule as to the murder of
women was, however, that which they believed to be specially offensive
to their patroness Bhawani; and no Thug, Colonel Sleeman states,
was ever known to offer insult either in act or speech to the women
whom they were about to murder. No gang would ever dare to murder a
woman with whom one of its members should be suspected of having had
criminal intercourse. The murder of women was especially reprobated
by Hindus, and the Muhammadan Thugs were apparently responsible for
the disregard of this rule which ultimately became prevalent, as shown
by the dispute over the killing of a wealthy old lady, [705] narrated
by one of the Thugs as follows: "I remember the murder of Kali Bibi
well; I was at the time on an expedition to Baroda and not present,
but Punua must have been there. A dispute arose between the Musalmans
and Hindus before and after the murder. The Musalmans insisted upon
killing her as she had Rs. 4000 of property with her, but the Hindus
would not agree. She was killed, and the Hindus refused to take any
part of the booty; they came to blows, but at last the Hindus gave
in and consented to share in all but the clothes and ornaments which
the woman wore. Feringia's father, Parasram Brahman, was there, and
when they came home Parasram's brother, Rai Singh, refused to eat,
drink or smoke with his brother till he had purged himself from this
great sin; and he, with two other Thugs, a Rajput and a Brahman,
gave a feast which cost them a thousand rupees each. Four or five
thousand Brahmans were assembled at that feast. Had it rested here
we should have thrived; but in the affair of the sixty victims women
were again murdered; in the affair of the forty several women were
murdered; and from that time we may trace our decline."