Nayagarh: In case of any burglary, people here seek help from black magic practitioners or euphemistically called sorcerers instead of approaching the cops.
During the last four days, three sorcerers have visited Balipatna (Udaypur), which is five kilometers away from the superintendent of police (SP) office here; says quite a lot about the deeply-rooted superstitious beliefs among the residents here.
Ten days ago a villager was celebrating the birth of his son and had arranged a ceremony for the same. Several people thronged to bless the newborn and gifted many things in packets which included cash money too. However, towards the end of the celebration it was found that some of the packets were missing.
At a village meeting it was decided that a sorcerer would be hired to trace the thief. As per the decision, Wednesday a practitioner came and engaged his cot to find out the thief, but failed.
Thursday, another practitioner was invited who addressed his cot carriers to find out the thief. He too failed.
The villagers finally engaged a practitioner from Natugaon but as they found the first two cot practitioners futile that’s why they put this practitioner to test.
So, for the test a villager hid something and then the cot practitioner was asked to find out the person and the place where he had kept the particular thing.
The practitioner first worshipped the cot and asked four people to carry the cot from four corners. Then the practitioner directed them to go and find out the thief.
After a few rounds the cot stopped at the person who had hidden the things. But then the cot kept moving in the village for two hours but failed to identify the place where the things had been kept.
Meanwhile, thousands of people from nearby villages gathered at the spot to see how a cot captures a thief. However, they were not allowed to take picture or shoot the event.
On being informed, Sadar police reached the spot, forcing the onlookers to disperse. But the practitioners had already left the place and the police had to return empty-handed.
When contacted, superintendent of police (SP) Sashi Bhushan Satapathy said, “The police could not arrest the practitioners as by the time our team reached the spot they had left the place. These persons are thriving only because of superstitions.” “First our people need to be aware of the fact that these practices have no science and logic and are nothing but superstitions, and then only something better can be expected,” he added.
Some senior villagers urged the police and district administration to take steps so that these practices can be checked.
PNN