KEEPING THE ‘GHOSTBARBER’ AWAY

People are dipping palms in turmeric and leaving its impression at the entrance of their houses to ward off evil. In the absence of turmeric, people are using henna, black paint or soil. Some have fixed twigs of neem on the doors while others are putting green chillies, lemon, garlic and onion in their houses. The more cautious ones are applying ‘mahawar’ or ‘aalta’ (red dye) on their hands and feet. Women have started tying their hair in tight buns and covering it with ‘dupattas’. Some people also put lime and neem in the schoolbags of children to ward off evil

NOTABLE POINTS

All victims are female. In most of the cases, only a small part (3-4 inch) of the braid/hair has been chopped. Most probably hair have been cut with the pair of scissors. Most of the attacks have taken place during the night or in dark when the victims were alone. None of the victims could narrate the sequence of events twice correctly. The adult victims avoided eye contact and allowed their family members to talk on their behalf. All victims and their families knew in advance about such incidents taking place through newspapers or television. Only the adult victims were hospitalised and were discharged after administering drugs. Most of them complained of uneasiness. Most of the victims were illiterate. In most of the cases, police have collected the hair samples for forensic investigation. Senior police officials who have questioned the victims suspect that the hair was chopped either by the victim herself or by someone else from her family.