Hyderabad: Crimes associated with superstitious beliefs appeared to be on the rise in Telangana and psychiatrists attributed it to growing stress which was being exploited by black magicians. Chief consultant psychiatrist Naresh Vadlamani said, “Human mind is in a constant state of motion, looking for solutions to get rid of problems they are facing. Once they fail, they make a second attempt. This effort continues. If they do not find solutions through their efforts, they resort to taking help from people who practice black magic.”
“Men taking help of black magicians is a result of their minds being in constant stress pertaining to financial and family problems. This leads to the thickening of their thought process to find a solution,” he added
A senior Vedic scholar, when asked about the relevance of black magic, said, “The subject of ‘Tantra Vidya’ is four yugas old and finds its roots in Vaidika Vidya. In ancient times, kings used it to establish victory over their powerful enemies who could not be defeated on the battle ground. It would not be wrong to say that they had used it for the constructive purpose and betterment of their subjects. However, today people have started using to satisfy their selfish needs, which is highly condemnable.”
Assistant commissioner of police G. Sandeep said, “There is a set of people who have been running business in the name of Tantra Vidya. The police department has been taking several measures to warn the commoners, but people have been going to them, and this gives the fraudsters to grow their network in the city and scope for crimes related to superstitions. Not all of them are being reported.”
M. Santosh, 35 of Shamirpet, shared his experience of visiting one such baba. “My wife had poor health for over two years. While watching a programme on TV, there was an advertisement about a baba who had his office in Dilsukhnagar, and that he would solve all sorts of problems. We visited him, he charged us about Rs 3,000 as his fees and later took another Rs 18,000 for performing pujas. It has been three months now and her health condition remains the same. I tried reaching out to him, but he was not answering my calls. I also visited his office but they shooed me away saying there is no baba there.” He said he had pawned gold to pay the baba and is now finding it difficult to repay the loans.
Shai Sharma, a ‘Tantra Vidya’ practitioner in Hyderabad, said, “I have about 25,000 clients throughout the city, both men and women. They come with various kinds of problems pertaining to their family, and business. Some of the services offered to get things corrected in personal lives of clients who come to me include ‘Vashikaran’ which is helpful in controlling someone by astrological rituals and Sarasvidhiyadanama through which prosperity in business can be brought about. The fees ranges from Rs 5,000 to a few lakhs, depending upon the problems and the pujas.”
A senior Telangana police officer, who had worked in such criminal cases, said, “Crimes related to superstitions are rampant in rural districts of Telangana like Nalgonda, Yadadri, Bhongir and Vikarabad. We have a team called ‘Kala Vrindam’ who have been going to such areas and spreading awareness among people on the subject. However, in the city, out of 100 crime cases, there may be one such case related to superstition.”
Case 1: Baby girl sacrificed to save life
On February 1, a severed head of an infant was found on the terrace of the house in Chilkanagar of one Rajashekar, an Uber driver who resides there with his wife. The baby was kidnapped from the roadside in Boiguda late on January 31 by Rajashekar after they scouted places for a female baby to be sacrificed.
“His wife had been unwell for the past four years and the couple visited Sammaka Saralamma two years ago in Medaram where they met one Koya Dora who ‘advised’ them to go for narabali, (human sacrifice) of a girl child. This was to get rid of evil spirits which were causing the illness. He then consulted three black magicians regarding the issue but in vain,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said.
Case 2: Man practiced black magic to influence others
In another case, a man was arrested by Chikkadpally police for allegedly performing black magic after a dispute with his neighbour on Friday.
The man, identified as Shankar Lal, was suspected to have been involved in black magic, police said. Shankar Lal’s neighbour told the police that he often performed rituals in his house. Police, however, said he was not involved in black magic but tried to influence locals with the antics. “He had cut a hen and used coconut frond and other such elements to inculcate fear among the locals,” said the Inspector of Chikkadpally said.
Case 3: Fake baba duping woman was arrested
Rein Bazaar police arrested a fake baba tailor, Omer Iqbal, 38, who duped a woman under the pretext of performing black magic and collected money from her. Police Inspector Mohammed Javed said they received a complaint from one Razwana Begum that they approached Iqbal, a tailor, as they had family issues. They paid Rs 20,000 to the baba after he promised to perform black magic to rid them of their troubles. However, the baba duped them. Based on complaint, police registered cheating and extortion cases against Iqbal.
