Bini Dahal

Education has always been linked with the development of modern society. For someone belonging to a traditional and religious society, the South Asian community, in particular, strongly believes that education can help change negative aspects of the society. But this seems to be quite a debatable issue!
On Monday, the death of two young girls hit the headlines of the whole Indian news media. Residents of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh of India-- Alekhya Naidu, 27, and Sai Divya Naidu, 23, were murdered brutally in their own homes. The heinous crime had been committed by their own parents by using tridents and dumble.
According to the couple, both of their daughters had been complaining with their mother about experiencing breathlessness and seeing strange figures in the house. Being unable to bear seeing strange things, the younger one had asked her mother to kill her so that all of the happenings would stop.
The whole complaining had reached a new level when she threatened the parents of ending her life. And thus, she was murdered around Sunday afternoon in a very brutal manner. And hours later, the elder one, who was high under the occult practice, asked them to kill her, too, so that after 24 hours both she and her sibling could resurrect. Her logic was the end of Kaliyuga and the beginning of Satyayuga could help them come back alive. This foolishness on her part took her life.
After having murdered his daughters, the father called one of his colleagues and informed him of that horrible incident. No sooner had the colleague heard about the crime than he alerted the police about it. When the police reached the spot, the couple was adamant to open the door as they believed that their daughters would wake up after 24 hours. The police then raided the house. While the father was out of the trance, the mother was found to be mentally unstable. She continuously blabbered of how coronavirus had broken out from the hair of Lord Shiva and called herself Lord Shiva. She was found singing and dancing near the daughters’ bodies.
The police personnel arrested the couple and placed them in a psychiatry ward of a hospital.
Something really bizarre was that all the four members of the family were highly educated. The father was an Associate professor at a college and the mother, a gold medalist in mathematics, worked as a counsellor for a private institute. They were a well-to-do family. But the superstition has destroyed their lives. Despite the fact that they had wonderful certificates, what they truly lacked was a logical and rational way of thinking. The daughters too had been brainwashed. It was quite evident from several of their disturbing social media posts. Their belief in the supernatural power had gone out of their control.
Too much of everything is disastrous. This idea is quite relevant in the case of these murders. Obsession for centuries-old tradition can make people become delusional and mentally unstable. This kind of actions can even make people lose their faith in re ligion and culture. So, everyone should adopt a rational and healthy thinking and shun superstitious beliefs.