HYDERABAD, India (AP) - Two men attacked an 80-year-old, self-proclaimed holy man in southern India and chopped off his right leg, apparently believing it had magical powers, police said Thursday... "This seems to be a case of superstition. The two people might have taken away the leg hoping to benefit from its magical powers," said Pendakanti Dastgiri, the police officer handling the case. Superstitions, belief in magic and the occult remain widespread in much of rural India. Kondaiah told police that two men offered him a drink as thanks for previously helping them with his magical touch. After he passed out drunk, the men chopped off the leg below the knee with a sickle and left him to die, said Dastgiri, adding that passing villagers found him and took him to a hospital.
Think this is a problem for South Asian's only? Well, yes. True enough, I suppose, but ask yourself why. Once upon a time Christians played the same way. Europe tore itself apart for hundreds of years over superstitions no less silly. Why did they stop? A clue.
