Kozhikode: Quacks still reign strong in villages

KOZHIKODE: The status and trust quacks and black magicians enjoy in the rural side of the district have prompted the police to start their Janamaitri campaign afresh, rural SP M.K. Pushkaran said.  The last one in a series was the arrest of a quack from Cherapuram, near Velam, who was treating unsuspecting patients with ‘Quranic’ techniques.

He is known to have acquired the trust of homemakers and illiterates in the nearby areas and performed rituals at a promise that they would be devoid of the evils.  “The main propaganda of these kinds of fakes  are erasing the evils 
from other enemies, and they charge huge fees,”  he told DC.

“There are also cases where the victims are promised to cure the diseases just by a ritual or puja. They claim to mediation with the God. Even the educated people like teachers are falling prey to their tricks. The quacks, as well as the black magicians, are exploiting their feeling of insecurity and craving for wealth. Sometimes, the poor people also turn to be victims, when they think of easy money.”

In February, a woman fell a victim of the black magic by a sorceress in Purameri, and the victim had succumbed to her wounds. As a first step, the police would take out campaigns to make the people not  to trust the middlemen, who claim to have  proximity with Gods and special powers.