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Chapter Two. The Social Structure and its Units |
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deposing a chief guilty of incest |
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There was also the possibility of deposing a chief guilty of a grave offense. Naiwang, the chief of Wanching, committed incest with his father's brother's daughter, who had returned to live in his house after she had been divorced by her husband. When the incestuous relationship was discovered, the villagers deposed Naiwang and installed his father's younger brother's son in his place. Despite the seriousness of the offense, the deposed Ang was allowed to remain in the village, though he had to leave his house and move to a different ward. Wanching belonged to the Thenkoh group of villages, in which chiefs share power with the elders of morungs, and it is possible that a powerful Ang of a Thendu village might have been able to hush up even a case of incest. |
