India’s ‘Rat Eaters’ are so poor that even the Dalits look down on them
‘They are the poorest among the poorest’
The rat kept crawling over Phekan Manjhi’s arm as he battled to pin it to the ground before he eventually managed to kill it with repeated blows to the head.
The execution drew applause from neighbours huddled around the 60-year-old in a grimy courtyard outside his mud and straw hut. Another meal lined up for the Rat Eaters – some of India’s poorest people.
Phekan said it would take 15 minutes to prepare the rat stew, as he dissected the animal with his fingernails.
“Almost everyone here loves this and knows how it’s prepared,” he added.
Phekan is one of about 2.5 million Musahars – “Rat Eaters” – one of India’s most marginalised communities. Even the browbeaten Dalits from the lowest rung of India’s caste hierarchy look down on them.
“They are the poorest among the poorest and rarely hear about or get access to government schemes,” said Sudha Varghese, who spent three-decades working among Musahars in the northern state of Bihar, where most live and survive as dollar-a-day labourers.
“It’s a daily struggle for the next meal and diseases like leprosy are an everyday reality,” added Varghese, who was awarded India’s top civilian honour for her work.