OATHS IN COURT
CUSTOMS OF THE EAST WOMEN DANCE PAST JUDGE Three Indian women who were witnesses in a case at .Port Arthur danced past the judge instead of inking the oath. This, according to their religion, bound thorn to speak the truth. If they then lied, they would incur the wrath of their ancestors. Even in British courts Moslems swear on the Koran, and Sikhs on the Bhagvad Gita, their equivalent of the Bible. The Chinese, However, have the queerest custom of all. When a Chinese takes the oath he raises a saucer above his head and smashes it to the floor. Raying as the fragments fly: "If 1 tell a lie, may my soul he shattered, like that safieer, into a thousand frag- . ments."
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23879, 1 February 1941, Page 2 (Supplement)
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126OATHS IN COURT New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23879, 1 February 1941, Page 2 (Supplement)
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