NALGONDA: After 18 people died under mysterious circumstances in the span of a month, residents of Chandupatla village under Nakrekal Mandal and its adjoining hamlets placed themselves in temporary exile on Wednesday in a bid to ward off evil forces that they believe have taken over the village. While elderly people said that such an act had been carried out earlier as well, others believe that it had helped remove evil spirits from the village.
As many as 4,000 people reside in Chandupatla and other hamlets — Padhulavarigudem, Kandimallavarigudem, Kottavarigudem and Maruti Nagar. In the month of January, 18 people, including two under the age of 30, died of unnatural causes.
“It has almost become normal to see another person pass away in the village when we are on the 9th or 10th day of the mourning period of the person who died prior to them,” a villager said.
A group of residents approached village elders asking why no one cared about the number of consecutive deaths. Soon, a discussion between the elders and other residents was convened. While many people offered contrasting views, they all came to a consensus at that end that the unnatural number of deaths was due to the presence of evil in the village.
To rid them of evil forces, the residents decided to vacate the village for a day and camp on the outskirts. Early in the morning before sunrise on Wednesday, residents along with the elderly and children left their houses at 6 am. They took with them cooking equipment and ingredients and prepared meals.
Soon after sunrise at about 6 pm, they returned and cleaned their houses. They lit a fire in front of the Bodrai (village god) as residents poured water over the deity. After the ritual, a villager said he felt that evil forces had been eradicated while another 65-year-old resident said they had done the same thing about 30 years ago to curb the spate of unnatural deaths in the village.
Chandupatla village Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency member E Lakshmi Venkanna told TNIE that while some people have died under mysterious circumstances, they had urged residents to not believe in such superstitions.
Nakrekal Circle Inspector Venkataiah said the police cultural teams, Kala Jatha, arranged for a programme to dispel superstitions among the villagers. He added that they had to make security arrangements to avoid theft and other crimes when the residents had vacated their houses.
18 PEOPLE DIE IN JAN OF UNKNOWN CAUSES
As many as 4,000 people reside in Chandupatla, Padhulavarigudem, Kandimallavarigudem, Kottavarigudem and Maruti Nagar. In January, 18 people, including two under the age of 30, died of unnatural causes.