Muhnochwa In 2002, the state was in for another scare — this time it was the “Muhnochwa” (face scratcher).The state government even asked experts from IIT Kanpur to probe and see whether the attacks were being made by a remote-controlled device but the team could not reach any conclusion.When the scare reached the of Lucknow, police began investigations and found objects like a gas balloon with a battery operated light, an insect and a rubber kite at places from where the attacks were being reported. Somehow, all victims have complained of falling unconscious after the incident and some have even been hospitalised. Another psychiatrist, Dr Anand Kumar, said that some unscrupulous elements make hay by fuelling such rumours and the police should tackle the situation in the beginning instead of allowing it to spiral out of hand.Lucknow: Braid-cutting is just the latest of mass hysterias to have hit Uttar Pradesh.He would then put them in a sack and disappear. Psychiatrist Prof S. Police insisted that “Lakadsunghwa” was actually a child lifter but no one was ever caught. Ram Jeevan, a farmer in Ballia whose three-year-old nephew went missing during this period, says, “I continue to pray for the well being of my nephew. The hysteria faded away gradually and the “Lakadsunghwa” disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.

According to reports, over 150 women, most of them in western UP, have found their braids cut off. In all these scares, the victims have belonged to low income groups”.Police investigations were closed and, till date, nothing is known about the children who disappeared. Not many dare to sleep outdoors, some are wearing helmets or simply staying awake all night. ”Roti-Pyaz wali Budhiya In the late Nineties, the ‘Roti-Pyaz wali Budhiya’ made headlines. “This phobia comes out of a sense of insecurity and affects the less-educated people more.Choti-Katwa The latest braid-cutting incidents, referred to as “Choti-katwa”, are once again generating fear among women who find their hair cut off mysteriously. In the mid-Eighties, there was panic in the state over rumors of a man with a wooden stick out to kidnap kids. The man came to be known as “Lakadsunghwa” (one who smells the wood) and over three dozen children disappeared during this phase that lasted almost two months.The “Muhnochwa” was reportedly seen in about 30 districts including Ballia, Ghazipur and the number of victims, who suffered serious scratches and bruises on the face and arms, was in hundreds. Villagers started night patrolling but the attacks continued.

At least four people jumped off the roof and died after “seeing” the “Muhnochwa” approach them.C.. People living in slum areas insisted that an old woman came to their homes, asking for roti-pyaz (chappati and onion) and those who gave it to her, later found all their money missing from the house. So great was the fear of the “Muhnochwa” that a villager shot dead his dog who was licking his face while he was asleep. Psychiatrists insist that phobia comes out of a sense of insecurity and affects the less-educated people more and it is just a matter of time before this new scare dies down. Scared women have now changed their hair style and started tying their hair into a bun. Another beat up his father in the dark, mistaking him to be the mysterious face scratcher. The scare lasted for about a month and several women beggars were beaten up on grounds of suspicion.Anxious parents stopped sending children to school, did not allow them to play outside and even locked them up inside the house during night. Tiwari insists that these are cases of mass hysteria and auto-suggestions. Villagers insisted that a light-emitting flying object came towards them in the dead of the night and scratched their face, even gave them mild electric shocks. People insisted that the man would put the stick in front of children who Metallographic CASTABLE mounting immediately fell unconscious