A walking ghost on a killing spree

Manglojodi (Orissa): Many people in a small hamlet of Khurda district of Orissa do not wish to come out of their homes after dusk. They are scared for getting killed by a 'walking ghost' believed to haunt the area.

According to the panic-stricken villagers of the Manglojodi hamlet, a killer ghost that lives on a tree stalks them.

Unable to bear the nagging fear of the walking ghost, a few daring village youngsters pulled down the tree.

But villagers are still too afraid of the ghost to go near the place where the tree once stood. They do not wish to meet the same fate of their seven fellow villagers who got killed by the ghost in last few months.

"Till date seven people have died after coming in contact with that tree since March. Everybody is scared of going anywhere near the tree. Children do not go to school or college anymore. By six in the evening, all's quiet and people are scared to go out even to the local shop. The murderous spirit seems to have paralysed our village," said Anasuya.

One of the victims was Bhawani Behra, a 19-year-old boy, who had helped raze the tree. He died coughing up blood and reportedly told his sister Anasuya before dying that he saw a white cat moving spookily around the tree.

Children take a circuitous route to school and villagers talk in hushed tones, lest the deadly ghost should hear them.

The felled tree still evokes panic amongst villagers as the tale has acquired newer dimensions adding to a false belief of many individuals who say a possessed girl 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 Dussera festival," said Laxmidhar Behra, the Chief of the Village Governing Council.

Tribals and villagers of many rural areas of Orissa prefer black magic to medical treatment. Social activists blame lack of basic health care facilities for the wide spread superstitions.