The peutasa’ ordeal (also called peunglo minye, “the boiling of oil” or “the plunging of the hands into oil”) was the principal Achehnese ordeal for the identification of a thief from among a number of persons, one of whom was believed to be the guilty party. The ordeal was administered by the uleëbalang, for although the administration of oaths was an affair of the gampong which the keuchi’ could undertake upon his own responsibility, the ordeals could only be applied by the uleëbalang. Like the other Achehnese ordeals, the peutasa’ depended for its success on the operator’s ability to boil the oil in the proper manner, and on his knowledge by heart of the necessary incantations. Then the hand of the guilty person, and none other, would be scalded.
The ordeal of boiling oil
In the peutasa’ ordeal, the operator boiled oil in the proper manner, having first uttered the necessary incantations. The hands of all the suspects were then plunged into the boiling oil; the hand of the guilty person and none other would be scalded. As with all such ordeals, the value of the peutasa’ lay in the belief which the majority of the people had in it. Where the ordeal was 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.
The other Achehnese ordeals
The peutasa’ was only one of several ordeals employed in Acheh to identify the thief from among a number of suspected persons. The peulagèh breu’èh (“bolting of raw rice”) had the desired result—namely, that it was the guilty one alone who failed to swallow the rice—only when the requisite incantations were uttered over the rice. The peutianom (“burying something”) was an ordeal in which the uleëbalang called together all the suspected persons into the meunasah, and gave them three days’ time to restore the stolen object secretly to its owner; should this not be done, they must again assemble, and some person skilled in magic art “enchanted” a kundur-fruit (bòh kundu), which was then buried where the main road entered the gampong; the result was that the stomach of the guilty party quickly swelled up or burst. The peulih beuso’è (“licking the hot iron”) was also in use, and was even expressly recognized in the so-called edict of Shamsul-alam.
A simpler alternative
A simpler plan, but one less effective than these ordeals, was the summoning of all the suspects into the meunasah, where the teungku caused them one by one to swear a solemn oath of exculpation. This last was, however, an affair of the gampong, which the keuchi’ could undertake upon his own responsibility; the ordeals, by contrast, could only be applied by the uleëbalang. Knowing the value of the dramatic, some uleëbalangs had been wont to invite the attendance on such occasions of a teungku from some distant place, distinguished by a great beard or some other such impressive characteristic; this startling apparition had often resulted in confession.
Place in the system of detection
The ordeals belonged to a broader Achehnese system of detection. When strong suspicion rested on a particular individual and it was desired to extort confession, recourse was had to the method called lòëng or sréng ba pha siblaili—fastening a strip of rattan round the thigh of the suspect and tightening it by twisting the ends together while the interrogation proceeded. Various other similar tortures were also employed. When a thief chanced to be captured instead of slain, his relatives were given opportunity of ransoming him; such ransoms were especially customary in the highlands, where theft was very common. Elsewhere—for instance in the XXV Mukims—thieves were more usually put to death on the spot.
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.