By Tim Binnall
A self-proclaimed psychic in Kazakhstan is understandably under fire after predicting that a missing teen had perished before police found the young woman alive and well. According to a local media report, the peculiar case began on July 23rd when 15-year-old Aruzhan Utegen vanished in the country's capital city of Astana. As her family, friends, and authorities were searching for the missing teen, a purported clairvoyant took to social media with a rather regrettable 'vision.'
"Unfortunately, I don't see this girl alive," the mystic wrote, asserting that the teen had been kidnapped by a man who subsequently murdered her. The fortune teller also predicted that her body would be found on the outskirts of the city in a few days. As one might imagine, the psychic's dark forecast was not well received among social media users, who lambasted the clairvoyant for the heartless and dispiriting post, particularly as people were still searching for the missing teen.
The outrage was quickly compounded when police announced that Utegen had been located. Indicating that "her life and health are currently not in danger," authorities called on residents to "refrain from further spreading false information." The resolution to the case did little to quell the furor surrounding the psychic's grim prediction, as many angry Kazakhstani netizens called for the faux mystic to be prosecuted for causing a public panic with their clearly incorrect prediction.