Women claim their braids being chopped off by unknown people
After reports of approximately a dozen such cases in Haryana, two women in Delhi have complained about their braids being chopped off by unknown persons. Both the cases, wherein women did not see who chopped off their braids, occurred in Kanganheri village. Following this, villagers decided to inform the police and take turns to keep round-the-clock guard. 
The braids of three women in an outer Delhi village were chopped mysteriously by unknown persons on Sunday, leaving villagers scared and seeking superstitious remedies.The three incidents, which occurred over a period of about 12 hours on Sunday, took place in the houses where the women lived. Each of the women said the chopping of their braids happened soon after they experienced sudden unbearable headaches and fell unconscious. The braids were left behind at the spot.Though the police could neither comment confidently on the motive behind the mischief, nor trace the people behind it, they claimed that CCTV cameras had captured three men suspiciously roaming around in the village.Speaking to the media, Surender Kumar, DCP (south-west), vehemently opposed villagers? suspicion that these activities had supernatural connections. ?Witchcraft is totally ruled out. We are probing this in a scientific manner,? he said adding that theft could also be a possible motive. Villagers, however, denied any thefts in the area.According to media reports, around a dozen similar activities were reported in places such as Gurgaon, Palwal and Mewat in Haryana. However, Sunday was the first time this was reported in Delhi.The first victim was a 55-year-old woman living in Kanganheri village in outer Delhi?s Chhawla. A woman with red hair, she was returning home from her farm around 10.30 am on Sunday when she suddenly experienced a severe headache.The moment she entered her home, she locked the outermost six-feet high iron gate and jumped into a bed in the drawing room, leaving the drawing room door ajar. Her sleeping position was such that her face and gaze were away from the door.?Suddenly, I felt extreme pain in my head. I held my head and screamed for my grandchildren. But my screams were drowned in the sound of the cooler,? she told HT.When her granddaughter visited the drawing room a few minutes later, she found the woman unconscious on the floor. ?Her chopped braid was lying on the ground. We immediately informed the villagers and the police,? her son told HT. He had run out of the house to see if there was anyone, but he could not find any stranger.?No one approached me on my way back home from the farm. No one followed me into my house and no one touched me when I lay on the bed. I don?t remember anyone chopping off my hair either,? she said. Unaware of similar happenings in Haryana, the local police initially suspected the role of one of her relatives. But even as the villagers were discussing this unusual activity, a similar case happened in another house in the village with a population of over 5,000.This time it was a 45-year-old woman who had been dropped off at her home by her son around 8 pm. She had just got off the bike when she reported headache. Her son took her to bed and left. Within minutes, she experienced a similar pain and fell unconscious. When she woke up, she found her reddish braid chopped off. She too had not seen the culprit. By 11.30 pm, a 50-year-old woman living at the other end of the village lost her whitish braid. She had to be taken to a hospital before she regained consciousness. The same pattern in all three cases has prompted police to suspect that the culprits intoxicated the women.?There were also thefts at one or two of these women?s homes,? the DCP said. The villagers, however, rejected the police?s claims of intoxication or thefts. A case of poisoning, outraging the modesty of a woman, theft and under arms act has been registered at Chhawla police station.