One should vacate the house if a crow enters it, so goes an old saying. That such superstitions, which, unfortunately, still prevail in many places even in this age — have no basis was proved in Anantapur district on Tuesday when three members of a family lost their lives in tragic circumstances. The one who survived is fighting for his life in the hospital.Locals said the family of Vadde Subbarayudu vacated their permanent house at Timmapuram village in Kambaduru mandal, fearing bad omen after a crow entered their dwelling. They took shelter on the first floor of an old and dilapidated building on the outskirts of the village that ironically, collapsed on Tuesday night, killing three and injuring one.While Subbarayudu (41) survived the tragedy, his wife V Thimmakka (32), son V Ravi (12) and daughter V Maha Lakshmi (8) lost their lives. The condition of Subbarayudu, who was shifted to a private hospital in Anantapur, is critical. The other three were already dead by the time they were pulled out of the debris. Kambaduru police have registered a case and probing the circumstances that led to the tragedy.N Mahender Reddy, who works as a government school teacher in Anantapur and is also the general secretary of Jana Vignana Vedika, told TOI that different kinds of superstitions are rampant in many parts of the district even today.“In Rayadurgam some time back, married women were forced to remove beads (pusalu) from their mangalasutrams after rumours spread that their husbands would die if they do not do so. At Dharmavaram, people perform ‘seemantham’ (a kind of religious ceremony for pregnant women) for dogs, while in Kadiri people still bathe frogs in water for a good monsoon. Devadasi system is still prevalent in Madakasira. Recently, in a remote village in Bukkapatnam mandal, there were strange instances of houses catching fire on their own. The belief in this particular village is that a family must leave their house for a period of three months if a crow enters it,” he said.“We have been holding camps regularly across the district to educate people so that they do not fall prey to such superstitions. However, incidents such as this one at Thimmapuram village proves that such beliefs are still rampant in this backward region,” said Reddy, whose organisation works towards creating awareness in rural areas against age-old superstitious beliefs.

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