VietNamNet Bridge - Thousands of graves in the Central Highlands have been illegally excavated by thieves, to search for antiques and valuable things.



Mr. Dinh Truyn led us through a 3km small twisting rocky path, cross a stream to the cemetery of the Mo H'Ra village, Kong Long Khong commune, K'Bang districts of Gia Lai Province.

The cemetery was murky and completely quiet. Afternoon sunlight through the trees shed into the shattered porcelain pieces, flashing stunning iridescent light, but behind it is crime of thieves who dug up graves for enrichment.

Chopping off dense branches, Mr.Dinh Truyn took us deep inside the cemetery to prove that the allegations of the villagers are completely true. Before our eyes, the cemetery of several hectares, with more than 100 charnel-houses of a few of decades to hundreds of years old of Mo H'Ra village was damaged. All charnel-houses have been dug up by thieves to steal antiques.

Holding a piece of coffin in his hand, Mr. Truyn lamented: "The thieves have taken everything. What do the ghosts use to do farm work and to serve themselves in daily life? Wicked! ... They may be starvation!"

If the coffin is made of rare wood, like sua timber, the thieves were so brutal to kick up the remains of the dead to the surface to take the coffins.

Truyn said, most of the remains in this cemetery were lost because of thieves, who dug up graves to steal things but did not fill up the graves.




Meanwhile, according to the customs of the Bana and Jarai people, to fill up the grave, they have to make rituals, with buffalos, pigs, chickens and alcohol as the offerings to worship the "ghost." The rituals are costly so only wealthy families can afford. For poor families, who cannot afford the rituals, they will have to let the remains lie on the ground forever.

Not only the ancient tombs were illegally excavated, even new tombs were also dug up. Two years ago, Mr. Dinh Van Ngheo’s family buried their relative in this cemetery. According to the customs of the Bana people, the family shared their property for the dead, including a set of cooking tools, bowls, plates and an ancient jaw. A week later, Ngheo visited the charnel-house and saw the new tomb being excavated and the above assets being taken away.

Mo H'Ra Village’s chief, Mr. H'Mung said, the ancient tombs of rich families usually have valuable items made of black brass, gold, silver and a lot of pottery items. The coffin is often made by rare wood, particularly sua wood. The value of these tombs is up to hundreds of thousands of USD. The thieves can become billionaires after a single night if they find such a tomb. This is the cause for thousands of graves of the Bana, Jarai, Ede and K’ho ethnic groups in the Central Highlands to be illegally dug up by thieves.

Mr. Dinh H'Ni, police officier in Kuk Kon village, Dak Po commune, Dak Po district in Gia Lai province, said that since August 2011, the thieves dug up a total of 20 tombs in his village. It is said that the thieves used metal detectors to search for valuable things in tombs.

Kien Thuc