Woman complains of mysterious braid chopping in Kota

All the family members of Laadbai were sitting in the courtyard of the house when the incident allegedly occurred

A woman from Ramganjmandi area in Kota district claimed that her hair was chopped off in mysterious circumstances, another instance of such incidents reported from many places that fuelled superstition and rumour-mongering.

In the last two months, about 100 cases of hair chopping have been reported from villages in Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh leading to fear and night vigils. Officials said many incidents could have gone unreported as the villagers did not lodge complaints.

Ramganjmandi police went to the house of the woman in Mayla on Friday night after knowing about the incident.

“A 40-year-old woman, named Laadbai, complained that she had headache and vertigo, and later her braids were chopped off mysteriously,” said Prem Bihari, head constable of the Ramganjmandi police station.

“All the family members of Laadbai were sitting in the courtyard of the house when the incident allegedly occurred.”

Locals rushed to the woman’s house to enquire about the mysterious incident, which police called superstition.

Last week, chopping of hair of a school girl was reported from Prem Nagar area of Kota city, which later turned out to be a cooked up story; the girl admitted that she had done it herself after she was teased by schoolmates for her hair.

Around 30 such incidents have been reported from four districts of Rajasthan since the rumour started in the June first week. No cases or FIRs have been lodged.

In many incidents, the complainants refused to lodge a case and in some, the women admitted to cutting hair themselves, police said.

The reports have left many scared and paranoid.