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The Tarakeswar affair (also known as the Tarakeswar scandal or the Mahant-Elokeshi affair) refers to a public scandal in 19th-century Calcutta (Kolkata), then the capital of the British Raj. It resulted from an illicit love affair between Elokeshi, the wife of a government employee Nobin Chandra, and the Brahmin head priest (or ''mahant'') of the Tarakeswar Shiva temple. Nobin subsequently decapitated his wife Elokeshi because of the love affair. A highly publicised trial followed, dubbed the Tarakeswar murder case of 1873, in which both the husband and the ''mahant'' were found guilty in varying degrees.〔 Bengali society considered the ''mahant''s actions as punishable and criminal, while justifying Nobin's action of killing an unchaste wife. The resulting public outrage forced authorities to release Nobin after two years.〔〔 The scandal became the subject of Kalighat paintings and several popular Bengali plays, which often portrayed Nobin as a devoted husband. The ''mahant'' is generally presented as a womaniser, who takes advantage of young women. The murder victim Elokeshi is sometimes blamed as a seductress, the root cause of the affair. However, she is sometimes absolved of all guilt and is portrayed to have been tricked and raped by the ''mahant''. Elokeshi's parents, with whom she stayed in Tarakeswar while Nobin was away on work in Calcutta, are considered guilty for the event. ==Summary== Elokeshi, the sixteen-year-old housewife of the Bengali government employee Nobin Chandra (Nobinchandra/Nabinchandra/Nobin Chandra) Banerjee, lived in the village of Tarakeswar with her parents, while Nobin was away for work in a military press in Calcutta.〔 She approached Madhavchandra Giri, the "powerful" ''mahant'' of the popular and prosperous Tarakeswar temple,〔 seeking fertility medication; however the ''mahant'' allegedly seduced and raped her.〔 An affair began with the "connivance" of Elokeshi's parents.〔 When Nobin returned to the village, he learned about the affair from village gossip. Nobin was publicly humiliated following the discovery of the affair.〔〔 He confronted Elokeshi, who confessed and begged him for forgiveness. Not only did Nobin forgive her but he decided to run away with her from Tarakeswar. However, the ''mahant'' did not allow the couple to escape; his goons blocked their way.〔 Overcome with anger and jealousy, Nobin slit his wife's throat with a fish knife, decapitating her,〔 on 27 May 1873.〔 Full of remorse, Nobin surrendered to the local police station and confessed his crime.〔 The ''Tarakeswar murder case of 1873'' (Queen ''vs'' Nobin Chandra Banerjee)〔 first stood in the Hoogly Sessions Court at Serampore in south-west Bengal. The Indian jury acquitted Nobin, accepting his plea of insanity, but the British judge Field overruled the jury's decision and forwarded the matter to the Calcutta High Court.〔 However, Judge Field accepted that there was an adulterous relationship between Elokeshi and the ''mahant'', with whom she was seen "joking and flirting". Judge Markby, who presided over the case in the High Court, also accepted the evidence proving adultery.〔 The High Court convicted both Nobin and the ''mahant''. Nobin was sentenced to life imprisonment; the ''mahant'' got 3 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 2000 rupees.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Background )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tarakeswar affair」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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