Hyderabad: The increasing numbers of fake babas is a matter of concern to old city residents, especially women, as they are the ones who often fall prey to them. Women are the most affected by the tricks of fake babas as they find them soft targets. In many cases reported about babas there is a woman involved. In most families it’s the woman who is in charge of everyday life, and if something goes wrong they think that it’s an evil spirit and end up with babas, said Ms Shaheen, a social worker.
She added, “Babas know that women can be duped easily. So they fool them with sweet talk and keep extracting money. In some cases the babas targeted minor girls. A month ago it was reported that a baba had married a minor promising to cure her disease.” “Babas use many ways to trap women and it’s the need of the hour to address this issue. The babas should be grilled behind bars and the women educated. This can happen only if parents send girls to school instead of forcing them into early marriages,” said Jameela Nishat, an activist.
Police said that due to conditioning over the years most women consult babas if anything goes wrong. “If a daughter-in-law is unhappy she suspects her mother-in-law of black magic and vice versa. There are a few educated women who give up their capacity for logical thought and go to fake babas,” the activist said.
