In the little known Kotinada village in Odisha’s Ganjam district, a significant number of residents on Wednesday made an intriguing request for police permission — to engage the services of witch doctors, who, they believe, could ‘heal’ those afflicted with psychological turmoil.
Despite the Kotinada police’s sensible advice, redirecting villagers towards medical professionals in hospitals, the villagers remained resolute in their demand to seek psychotherapeutic assistance from witch doctors. This sheds light on the prevailing dominance of superstitions in the rural heartland of Odisha and awareness programmes failing to curb such behaviour among villagers.
