“Haunted tree” in Orissa village creates panic

Manglojodi, Orissa: Panic-stricken residents of an eastern Indian village say a killer ghost that lives on a tree stalks them, bringing true the prophesy of a possessed girl. Unable to bear the torture for long some of the braver ones

in Manglojodi, a hamlet in Khurda district of eastern Orissa state pulled down the tree. The story apparently did not stop there. Villagers are too scared to come out of their homes once dusk falls, the favourite time of the 'Ghost who walks" to make its evening rounds. Villagers refuse to go near the place where the tree stood, as they fear that they will meet the same fate of seven people who died at the hands of the ghost. Bhawani Behra, a 19-year-old boy who had helped raze the tree, was the latest victim. He died coughing up blood and told his sister Anasuya before dying that he saw a white cat moving spookily about the tree. "Till date seven people have died after touching that tree since March. Everybody is scared of going anywhere near the tree. Children do not go to school and college anymore. By six in the evening, all is quiet and people are scared to go out even to the local shop. The murderous spirit seems to have paralysed our village," said Anasuya. Children take a circuitous route to school and villagers talk in hushed tones, lest the deadly ghost hear them. The felled tree still evokes panic amongst villagers as the tale acquires newer dimensions, adding credibility to the words of a possessed girl who had prophesied that the ghost would claim 21 lives. "The prophecy of a possessed girl seems to be coming true. The spirit seems to have gone on a killing spree. Some time ago, the spirit had possessed the body of a young girl and said that it will take 21 lives before Dussehra (a Hindu festival)," said Laxmidhar Behra, the chief of the village's governing council. In India's rural areas superstition is quite prevalent and villagers prefer black magic to medical treatment. Social activists blame lack of basic health care facilities for the widespread superstitions. Bureau Report