Due to an unsettling increase in 'sorcery incidents,' a community in India is creating 'rapid response teams' to quickly squash cases of superstition that threaten to turn ugly.
Officials from the Mayurbhanj district in the state of Odisha announced plans for the proverbial sorcery stoppers to be formed this week.
The aim of the teams, of which there are to be dozens, will be to "prevent evil practices of witchcraft, black magic and sorcery which are on the rise."
Ideally, the units will respond to calls concerning all manner of 'supernatural' happens in the hopes of finding a resolution that does not involve brutal vigilante justice.
Lest one think that is hyperbole, the region has seen an astounding 53 deaths and 43 assaults over sorcery-related issues in the last 7 years.
The move by the Mayurbhanj government is merely the latest twist in what seems to be a fascinating ongoing cultural battle over black magic and other 'archaic' ideas in India.
To that end, perhaps if there had been a rapid response team in place last year, the notorious hair-cutting ghost may have never made it past its first cut.
Source: New Indian Express