CHIKKAMAGALURU: Superstitions can sometimes drive the God-fearing to extreme lengths but who would believe that a village priest would be able to drive an entire nomadic community out of the hamlet they had been living in for years and flee fearing they would fall prey to death? It happened at Bale village in Narasimharaja Pura of Chikkamagaluru with the panic stricken Haavu Golla community abandoning the village fearing they would die if they continued to stay there.
It all happened after a local priest asked them to shift immediately if they did not want to die! The priest reportedly told the villagers that the deity they worshipped was unhappy and someone from a neighbouring state had performed black magic which would spell disaster for them. To add to their fears, two members of the community had died in a month's time So acting on the priest's advice, 23 families deserted the place with their belongings in autorickshaws.
Ironically, the nomads have shifted from Bale at a time when the authorities were about to allot them residential plots with a proposal sent to the NR Pura tahsildar. A Bale gram panchayat official told Deccan Chronicle “We made an appeal to them not to shift but they did not heed our request.” Members of other communities including Christians, Vokkaligas and fishermen have no such fear and continue to live in the village.
