This film is part of Free
Rafai Fakirs, Hyderabad - No.1
Graphic images of the Muslim sect’s self-mutilation practices, filmed in late-1920s India.
Overview
This is the first of four films shot by E.H. Hunt on the veranda of his bungalow as part of his research into the self-mutilation practices of the Rafai Fakirs, a Muslim sect in Hyderabad, southern India. Not for the faint hearted, these scenes include eyeball gouging and cheek piercing.
Edmund Henderson Hunt (1874-1952) was Chief Medical Officer of the Nizam's State Railway, Hyderabad, southern India, from 1903-31. Hunt’s papers and photographs relating to the Rafai Fakirs can be found in the National Archives.
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