NEW DELHI: Two ‘tantriks' (practitioners of black magic) from a famous Indian temple town of Haridwar, duped a 29-year-old woman from the central Indian town of Nagpur of $ 1200, promising to cure all her marital problems with black magic. The practice of ‘black magic' as a cure for medical as well as psychological problems is widespread in India. In fact, its practitioners, who are colloquially known as ‘tantriks' are revered men and enjoy a demi-god status among rural folk. Police said, the woman, who had come across an advertisement while traveling in a train in Mumbai, got in touch with the two men in Haridwar and disclosed to them her problems. The two men – Pasa Baba and Thakur Rajendra Singh – then asked the woman to deposit the money in a bank account, before they can begin with rituals for the ‘black magic' to work. In a span of a single month until mid-April, the woman had put in $ 1200 into the two separate bank accounts of the two men. She however proceeded to file a complaint with the police as she got no relief and the men incessantly demanded more money. Police said they have booked a case of cheating under the relevant criminal laws as well as the law governing drugs and magic remedies and are investigating the two men from Haridwar.
