 As recently as the late 19th century, women were forbidden from eating until after the men had finished, and could not look at them while they ate.At birth, a village "ombiasy" (seer) was typically consulted to determine whether the child was destined for a fortunate or unhappy fate.If the latter, an exorcism was practiced whereby the infant would be slid down a chute into a body of water where his mother would retrieve him, and if it was deemed that the evil destiny was too strong for the exorcism rite to overcome it, the Bara infant would be left on an anthill to die.