Monday, Aug 27, 2012
Rumours of a bad omen befalling new born-babies have led several parents to break coconuts to ward off evil.
On Friday, word spread that shortly after a woman delivered twins at the Tirupur government hospital, one of the babies died and the surviving baby warned that an evil spell had been cast and several infants would die.
After delivering the chilling message, the remaining twin also died.
People then started performing special prayers and breaking coconuts smeared with turmeric outside their homes to ward off evil.
A resident, P. Manikandan, said a relative had told him about the incident.
"My family decided to perform prayers because we did not want to take any chances," he said.
No one, however, seemed to know the origins of the rumour or bothered to ascertain whether any woman had actually delivered twins at the hospital.
Many junctions in the Tamil Nadu town were filled with broken coconut shells.
Rumours of a bad omen befalling new born-babies have led several parents to break coconuts to ward off evil.
On Friday, word spread that shortly after a woman delivered twins at the Tirupur government hospital, one of the babies died and the surviving baby warned that an evil spell had been cast and several infants would die.
After delivering the chilling message, the remaining twin also died.
People then started performing special prayers and breaking coconuts smeared with turmeric outside their homes to ward off evil.
A resident, P. Manikandan, said a relative had told him about the incident.
"My family decided to perform prayers because we did not want to take any chances," he said.
No one, however, seemed to know the origins of the rumour or bothered to ascertain whether any woman had actually delivered twins at the hospital.
Many junctions in the Tamil Nadu town were filled with broken coconut shells.
