Widespread fears surrounding an alleged hair-cutting ghost in India appear to have reached a fever pitch as a mob murdered a woman who they suspected was the one behind the attacks!
Maan Devi wandered away from her home late at night on Tuesday and the disoriented 60-year-old woman wound up in a nearby village where suspicious residents soon surrounded her.
Accusing her of being a witch who had come to collect the hair of their wives and daughters, the frenzied group attacked Devi and began mercilessly beating her.
Although doctors later claimed that the woman died of a heart attack rather than wounds from the incident, there can be little doubt that her condition was caused by the fracas.
Meanwhile, a second individual was attacked by an entirely different mob in another part of India in an unfortunate episode also said to be in response to the hair-cutting panic.
While the victim survived the harrowing ordeal, his family says that he was badly injured from the beating he received from the would-be vigilantes.
The pair of unsettling attacks illustrate how the hysteria over the purported hair-cutting 'entities' tormenting villages in India continues to grow with more and more cases being reported to police throughout the week.
With authorities struggling to quell the concerns of citizens, they may now have to deal with an even bigger problem as frustrated residents begin turning on each other in an attempt to find and destroy the 'ghost.'
One can only hope that Devi's death can serve as a wake up call of some kind and that coolers heads can prevail before more people get hurt because of the panic.
Source: Hindustan Times