Death by Lightning&Superstition in Orissa this week
on Jane in India (India), 02/Aug/2011 15:48, 34 days ago
Everyday during lunch, after my rice& dhal I hang at reception in the office and browse through the local Orissa edition of the Indian Express. Quite often I'm surprised at the random things I read in the paper, and decided to share three stories from today's news, smaller items which didn't make the front page, but which I found shocking nonetheless:Lightning Claims 14 across StateYesterday there was a monsoon thunderstorm, well overdue after some hot and humid days. Apparently the lightning killed at least 14 people in Orissa, yesterday alone!! Not sure if it's because I come from a country with few thunderstorms that I found this shocking, but I always assumed lightning was such a rare unlucky way to die, never imagined it could kill 14 people in the same state, on the same day. The deaths were mostly farmers working in open fields, I imagine there is little education about precautions. When I expressed my shock to one of my workmates he said, yes it happens in the rural areas, and many of them believe it is God's doing. I was morbidly curious to find out how likely it is to die of lightning, just in case, so started Googling...most of the stats are about the U.S., listing Florida as the "lightning capital of the U.S." According toWikipediaan average of 40-50 people die in the U.S. each year. In Orissa, with a population of 37 million people,230 people died last yearfrom lightning. And in Uganda,18 children were killedin one single lightning strike this year.Woman Killed over Suspected SorceryThe second story is about a tribal woman killed in the Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. She was beheaded by a woman who believed she had practised black magic on her husband, as he was sick for some time and no treatment was working. To get revenge for this "curse" she beheaded the 55-year old woman in her sleep with a bill hook. This is the fifth death over suspected sorcery in the last six months in this district alone. These smaller items are always a shock for me to read, that such extreme superstition exists, and people are being killed because of it.Now, She Wears a 'Beard-less' SmileThis is an odd story with a happy ending. About a 7-year old girl who had a very rare condition called "giant congenital hairy nevus" which resulted in a huge hairy growth on her face. After three surgeries the hair is gone and the girl looks happy. She is from a poor family but her plastic surgery was sponsored by local people. My favourite part of this story, apart from the photo (below), was the English used by the journalist "..she had been afflicted by the condition since birth. But with passing time, the growth became more prominent and she looked weird." Straight to the point!Meanwhile, after putting down the paper, one of the guys from my office came in and told me a man had been murdered 2 minutes down the road, near the hotel Mayfair! Turned out laterit was an accident, an old man fell from a roof, but the families claimed it was murder in the hope of getting compensation.Ok, enough death for today please!?