Rafai Fakirs, Hyderabad - No.4

Last of a series of films graphically depicting the Muslim sect’s self-mutilation practices in late-1920s India

This is the last 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 are very similar to those in the first film and 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.