Stone throwing polts

[Mighty_Emperor]

Indian polt attack

Villagers in Madhya Pradesh face mysterious enemy

By Rohit Ghosh, Ratria (Madhya Pradesh), Mar 21 (IANS) :

People of a village in Madhya Pradesh are facing hostility from an unseen and a mysterious enemy.

The people of Ratria village in Neemuch, a district in western Madhya Pradesh, for the last one week have been coping up with unexplained fires and stone pelting. And they do not know who is behind them.

Not only the villagers, even the district administration and the police have till now failed to provide any solace to the villagers.

The villagers feel that if their problem is not solved soon, they may soon face shortage of water. "Our wells have started drying up fighting the fires," said a villager.

Ratria is a village around 20 km from the district headquarters of Neemuch, with a population of 1,000 people. Most of the villagers are farmers.

It all started a week back when a fire suddenly broke out in the village.

The villagers did not find anything unusual in the fire. Assuming that the fire resulted from the stub of a cigarette, short-circuit or a matchstick, they doused it.

But to the horror of the villagers, breaking out of fires soon became very common. "Fire breaks out anywhere in the village and at anytime of the day," said Sardar Singh Gurjar, the headman of Ratria village.

"We draw water from the wells of the village to douse the fire. The wells have started drying up. Major fires have broken out in the villages 11 times in a span of few days," said Gurjar.

But the villagers of Ratria do not have to have to cope with fire only. "Stone pelting is another problem," said Gurjar.

According to the villagers, they suddenly have to face shower of stones. "Many people have been injured in the stone pelting till now," said the chief of Ratria.

"I was going to my fields in a usual manner a couple of days back when suddenly the stones started hitting me from all directions. I ran for cover," said Ram Deo, a farmer of the village.

"I thought that it was a mischief. But the same thing happened on the following day also," he said.

The harassed villagers informed Neemuch Police about the matter.

Taking the incidents seriously, district police chief Yogesh Deshmukh visited the village. But much to the surprise of Deshmukh, he and his men also came under the shower of stones and had to scamper for saving themselves.

Once the "rain of stones" subsided, Deshmukh sent his men to all directions of the village. He was suspecting the hand of some mischievous person. But all his men returned empty handed.

"We have deployed policemen in plainclothes in the village. Secondly we have decided to take scientists to the village to allay the fears of the villagers. We have also deployed cameramen on rooftops," said additional superintendent of police N P Varkade, while talking to IANS. "We believe it's a mischief," he said.

http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=7205

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Limpopo Polt?

Mystery stones plague family

13/05/2004 21:33 - (SA)

Riot Hlatshwayo

Thohoyandou - The owners of a low-cost house in Limpopo say they've been troubled each night by stones "falling from the sky" for the past month.

Joyce Lambani, 55, of Lambani village east of Thohoyandou this week called on police for help.

Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi of Vhembe police said: "We've been watching the house every night since Monday and have also seen the stones from falling from the sky above the house.

He said somebody might be throwing stones at the house, but he personally believed evil spirits were to blame because police couldn't find any culprits.

"In my personal opinion, this incident has something to do with demonic spirits. The solution might be for the family to pray to God for help," said Mushavhanamadi.

Dr Elijah Mtileni, a pastor at Bethesda Christian Church in Malamulele, also suspects demonic spirits.

Sangoma blames witchcraft

"It is up to the family to give their lives to God first and believe that when we pray, the demonic spirits will disappear," he said.

He has offered to help the family.

Prominent sangoma Eric "Dr Hlathikulu" Ngobeni, blames witchcraft for the family's woes.

"This is a clear case of witchcraft because people have many ways of destroying the lives of others through it," he said.

He advised the family to consult with their ancestors, and then a sangoma.

In nearby Nzhelele village, a family is said to have been plagued by mysterious fires that kept breaking out in their house.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1526620,00.html

 

[punychicken]

Stones 'follow' woman

here

A Limpopo woman says she is being plagued by a hail of stones that follows her wherever she stays.

Miyi Shongi, 58, was kicked out of Lombani village by her terrified family and neighbours three weeks ago and moved in with relatives in Nhombelani village, 30km away near Malamulele, but the rain of stones followed her there too.

"I thought I would be safe there," she said at the time, "but the stones followed me and embarrassed me".

She believes a Zimbabwean trader has cast an evil spell on her, because she'd failed to pay for clothing she'd bought from the trader on credit.

When the problem first began in Lombani, her family called the police for help.

Stones 'fell like rain'

"We were there for nearly the whole night and saw stones falling from the sky like rain," said Vhembe police spokesperson Ailwei Mushavhanamadi.

"We went around the area to make sure someone wasn't throwing stones on the roof on purpose, but we didn't find anyone."

Police then advised the family to consult with spirit mediums about the phenomenon.

"Maybe if the family contacts someone who deals with evil spirits, like a pastor, the problem will stop," he said.

But Shongi's family booted her out, so she went to her in-laws in Nhombelani, but, two days later, the stones began falling again.

Hissing sound

"We were shocked to hear a hissing sound and the sound of stones falling on our roof. Some got inside, even though all the windows were closed," said her mother-in-law Mthavini Shilaluke.

She and her husband, Mbhazima, rushed to Shongi's room where they found her packing clothes and trying to hide some of the stones in a bag in apparent embarrassment.

"When we asked her what was happening, all she said was that it had started again," said Mbhazima.

They claim that stones then suddenly started falling on them inside the room and they dove for cover, screaming.

They ran outside and were met by a worried neighbour, Mamaila Baloyi, who says an errant stone hit her on the cheek.

Sangoma

Shongi explained to them about the Zimbabwean trader and has since disappeared.

Limpopo sangoma Dr Eric "Hlatikhulu" Ngobeni said such spells were possible and advised the family to consult a powerful sangoma to break it.

He also advised that Shongi should find the trader, apologise and pay her for the clothes.

Head of Bethesda Christian Church in Malamulele, Dr Elijah Mtileni blames demonic spirits for the phenomenon, and says only someone blessed with the Holy Spirit of God could solve Shongi's problem.