You know it is not a simple issue to laugh away! If you read the article carefully, it says that such a gruesome ritual was thrust upon the poor girls by their farmer fathers, who were really dejected due to the lack of rainfall this season. For a farmer, his crop is his livelihood. When a man is on a hungry stomach, it drives him insane and leads him to undertake extreme steps simply out of desperation! And the case in point just amplifies this insanity to a new level with a gory mix of superstition as well.
Now, that brings us to the larger issue of the dependence of agriculture in India on rainfall. This is a very serious issue and literally nothing much is being done by the govt. to address it. In a country where agriculture supports close to 50% of the population, such negligence is criminal to say the least and the govt. must be held accountable for it. Hundreds of farmers in India commit suicide every year over the same issue and yet the govt. is satisfied with signing high profile deals with the US and harping on its new found Global Power status.
The incident is really unfortunate and highlights the apathy of farmers in India. It is really disgusting. Hopefully, this incident which was intended to embarrass the rain gods succeeds in embarrassing the govt. instead.