The peulieh beusoe ordeal (Achehnese peulieh beusoë, “licking the hot iron”) was one of the judicial ordeals used in Acheh for the discovery of thieves. Its use is expressly recognised in the so-called edict of Shamsul-alam, and, like the other ordeals, it could be applied only by the uleebalang — not, like the simple administration of oaths, by the keuchi’ on his own responsibility. In the classification of Achehnese legal institutions it thus stood midway between the regular processes of the gampong and the more august operations of the territorial chief.
The ordeal and its companions
The peulieh beusoe belonged to the same family of ordeals as the peutasa’ (boiling the hands in oil) and the peumite beueh (bolting of raw rice). All three rested on the same principle: that, when the requisite incantations were duly recited by a skilled operator, the physical element of the trial — hot iron, boiling oil, or raw rice — would distinguish the guilty from the innocent by some bodily effect that no human artifice could counterfeit. The peutasa’ required that he who boiled the oil should know by heart the necessary incantations and should be able to do so in the proper manner; then the hand of the guilty person and none other would be scalded. In like manner the peumite beueh had its desired result only when the rice had been duly enchanted, and then the guilty one alone failed to swallow the rice.
Procedure and the art of the operator
The peulieh beusoe followed the same logic: the suspected persons were assembled — usually in the meunasah — and the hot iron was prepared with the proper ceremonies. Each suspect in turn was called upon to lick the iron, and the tongue of the guilty was expected to be burnt. As with the other ordeals, the value of the proceeding lay less in the actual physical test than in the terror which the ceremony inspired. Where the ordeals were made ready with the requisite circumstance and solemnity, the guilty party often confessed at once, before recourse was had to the actual trial; and even if this were not so, the demeanour of the criminal at the commencement of the ordeal generally proclaimed his guilt. Some uleebalangs were wont to invite to the ceremony a teungku from some distant place, distinguished by a great beard or some other impressive characteristic; this startling apparition often resulted in confession.
Place in Achehnese justice
The ordeals, including the peulieh beusoe, occupied a peculiar position in Achehnese justice. They were not the everyday means of determining guilt — that was done by the oath administered by the keuchi’, or by the trial of the cheukie punishment for lesser offences — but they were the ultimate recourse of the uleebalang in cases where theft had been committed and no confession could be obtained. The recognition of the peulieh beusoe in the edict of Shamsul-alam gave it a quasi-religious authority; in practice, as Snouck Hurgronje notes, its power lay in the popular belief in its efficacy, and its principal operation was upon the conscience of the suspect rather than upon his tongue.
See Also
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.