Daijiworld Media Network - Raichur (MS)

Raichur, Sep 3: The whole village wears a deserted look. It looks like a cemetery. Plush houses are showing no signs of life in them. The roofs of smaller shanties have flown off. More than 70 people have died in two years due to various reasons. Some of them are even silly. This is the scenario one will encounter if he or she visits the Bogadigota Tanda in the taluk of Devadurga near here.

No one knows whether this is the work of some evil spirit or curse of God. But these deaths have made the people of Tanda to completely forsake their village. They are now living under houses made with aluminum sheets instead of well equipped concrete ones.

More than 300 people were living in this tiny Tanda which has 35 houses. Most of these were joint families. In the last two years, this village has seen three to four deaths every month. In the beginning, the villagers thought that this is accidental. However, when even young people of the village started dying, the villagers deserted their houses three months ago and are living in the nearby hill.

Death due to silly reasons

There is no strong reason for the deaths that have occurred in this village. Some are even very silly reasons. If some have died due to the collision with the yoke of the oxen others have died due to a mild fever. Some have died after their body got swollen. Even the young men who were to get married have died. Elders who were extremely healthy have died suddenly. There are even people who have died on the way to the clinic to get treated for a mild fever which had just started. In almost every house three to four people have died.

Advised to leave the Tanda

This village is completely dependent on agriculture. Most of the villagers are illiterate. The villagers who took this turn of events as some evil force or curse of God approached many holy men and gurus. All of these holy men and gurus gave them the same advice to vacate the village. That is why the villagers have built tin sheds on the nearby hill and have left their plush houses empty. The villagers also say that two people died due to an accident during the construction of a big house in the village.

No epidemic, well to do village

This Tanda was the best among all the Tandas and had a very good infrastructure. This village, which is at a distance of 20 km from the taluk center has a well-built approach road. There is enough drinking water and electricity. Most importantly, the villagers of this Tanda have their own toilets. There is no epidemic that has bothered these people which has resulted in the death of so many people. However, neither the taluk administration nor the peoples' representatives have responded to the issues of the villagers. Even the appraisal of the situation to the MLA, when he came for the election campaigning has fallen on deaf ears.

Sharanabasappa Kattoli, tahsildar says, "The villagers have forsaken their houses out of superstitious fear on the advice of some Swamiji. I will get details of the deaths that have occurred in the village and try to win the minds of the villagers to return back to their homes."

"We have vacated the Tanda as we got perturbed by the serial deaths that have taken place in the past two years. Now we are living under tin sheds," says Mukkanna, a resident of Bogadigota Tanda.