Daily NEWS Srilanka

It was earlier reported that many inhabitants of

By now the situation has aggravated. The villagers have experienced various encounters in connection with this family. Several days prior to this, 28 year old Indika, a three-wheel driver living along Dambulla Road, Thambuththegama has gone across the village of Rajapakshagama in his three-wheeler with the intention of travelling to the temple in the adjoining village Soliya. It was for the purpose of inviting the chief incumbent there to give the Paanshakulaya on behalf of his Loku Appachchi. He had arrived near a spot similar to a three-way junction in the centre of the village Rajapakshagama. There was a stream and a stretch of paddy fields. His eyes had immediately fallen on a woman dressed in a light coloured green frock. She had put out her hand to the three-wheeler. It is not the norm of anybody in these villages to ignore someone trying to stop a vehicle on these roads. As Indika too had queried, "Where do you want to go nende?" She had then responded saying, "Drop me near the cemetery ahead". He had consented and while going towards the said cemetery he had once casually looked behind and what met his eyes was the sight of a distorted face. Indika who displayed no signs of fear had then quipped, "What Nende what happened to your face?" She had then responded saying, "Aney puthe ... I have a sickness". After that she had alighted near the cemetery. The said woman and a child had appeared for most of the time near a particular well in the village. From the day this well had been built the villagers had made use of this well for cultivation purposes and for bathing purposes but from recent times they had developed a fear even to go near the well concerned.

A certain woman who had been bathing there at 12 in the afternoon had noticed a 14 year old girl seated on a rock closeby. This woman who was stricken with fear has by now been taken to Meegalawa area to be treated by a ritual. Another woman named M.G. Indrawathi was someone who was not frightened even for an animal. She was a widow who would go the paddy field or the chena even during midnight. On certain days she used to travel all by herself even at one or two in the night to participate in the 'kiri amma dane'. However, some days back when she was returning after going to the paddy field it was a woman who was clad in a red coloured frock who had been seen at the aforementioned threeway junction. She had cast a glance at Indrawathi and questioned her, "What is inside that bag of yours?" Indrawathi who lost her temper because of the manner it was asked and because of what was asked had asked in response, "For what?" thinking for what reason should she tell what is inside her bag to an unknown woman. But this woman wearing red had grabbed her bag saying, "I'm hungry". Indrawathi too struggled with her to grab her bag. Indrawathi who grabbed the bag in the end happened to return home. At once what she saw was as if the massive mango tree nearby twirling all of a sudden as if caught in a storm and then collapsing. Even until she set her foot home she felt no fear about the woman she met. But when she reached home what she saw was scratch marks on her thighs. It was at that point that she got scared. After that she began to feel some fright little by little and had begun to feel a headache.

Early morning last Thursday a male from the village who went to pluck some long beans began to feel that somebody was pulling him back. When he turned round and looked, what met his eyes was a woman standing behind him. The man who got frightened by this was struck by a queer illness. In fact he had started loitering around the village the whole day eating dried fish. According to what the Grama Sevaka there had said, he had consumed about one and a half kilos of dried fish throughout the day in question. The villagers are of the opinion that this too is an influence of that fright.

Another person when going to the paddy field in the nighttime had observed a middle-aged male and a woman unknown to him staying in the paddy field. As such, what the villagers say is that an apparition of a woman, man and a small girl is wandering about. Chief incumbent Ratwatte ChandrarathanaThero of the Vihara of Rajapakshagama has this to say: "This ghost stories is a hoax. This is a plan of somebody. They are trying to loot this village  ....frightening people by saying things like this. If a person lives according to the religion ... things like this won't happen".

Grama Sevaka Mr. Ashoka has this to say: "By now the whole village is scared. Five or six persons have become seriously ill. It's good if a clever exorcist or a psychologist could come forward to solve this. If it goes on like this .... the village will be destroyed. I make a request that someone who has a knowledge about it come and give help to this village".

The referred to woman has even got into the vehicle of an outsider who was a certain officer of a popular bank who who has come here to collect debts. That officer did not like to reveal even his name.

What the priestess Dingiri Menika of Samangipura Thambuththegama Kambili, Kadawara Devale says is that the god has informed her about this calamity. As such, the god has said that a certain group of treasure-hunters of the past who stole the treasure in this village has been caught by the bahirawas and were nailed to a tree and that recently that tree as a result of being cut down now they are freely are roaming all over this village. And if a ritual is not performed soon with all villagers getting together, 7 persons in the village will be taken as a sacrifice. Simultaneously there will be a terrible disaster in the village.