With a series of women’s braid-chopping cases being reported from several parts of India, experts have opined that the bizarre incidents are due to mass hysteria and said the women are cutting their own hair, either consciously or in an altered sensorium, to seek attention.
On Saturday, three incidents of braid chopping were reported from Jamia Nagar, Uttam Nagar and Nangloi in the national Capital.
However, none of the victims or their families lodged any complaint with police.
In first incident reported from south-west Delhi’s Nangloi on Saturday morning, Usha (name changed), a housewife, was coming back from the market after buying milk when someone allegedly cut off her braid and vanished.
“I was walking back home when suddenly someone hit on my head and the moment I turned back, there was no one. My hair strands were lying on the ground. I checked my hair and found my braid missing,” said Usha.
locals present at the spot took the video and it is also being circulated on the social media, said sources.
Meanwhile, in south-east Delhi’s Jamia Nagar’s Batla House, a 13-year-old girl, who studies in Class VIII, also claimed that her braid was chopped off when she woke
up on Saturday morning.
“I was sleeping in my room. When I woke up in the morning, I saw strands of my hair scattered on the pillow. When I touched my hair, I found my entire braid missing,” the girl alleged.
After a PCR call regarding the incident was made, a police team reached the spot and collected the samples of her hair.
“We are yet to receive a formal complaint from the family of the girl after which we can register a case and start investigation into the incident,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, south-east district, Romil Baaniya.
A similar incident was also reported from south-west Delhi’s Bindapur where a woman in her mid-thirties alleged that her braid was chopped off. She did not lodge any complaint with police.
Experts are of the opinion that women are cutting their braids consciously or in order to seek attention.
“From all available evidence it seems that the women are cutting their own hair, either consciously or in an altered sensorium, to seek attention,” said Sudhir Khandelwal, former head of the department of psychiatry at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The mass hysteria, experts say, is just like women getting into a sort of trance after dancing, singing at religious events.
“Such hysteria is more commonly seen in women and the reason mostly is domestic stresses. They are usually in a dissociative state, so they may not be aware of what they are doing and might not have any memory of it later on,” said Dr MS Bhatia, head of the department of psychiatry at Guru Teg Bahadur hospital.
However, it is not uncommon for people to do it even consciously.
“When such a phenomenon starts happening, there is also a fear of missing out. So people often start copying the original incident,” said Dr Khandelwal.
Initially, incidents of braid chopping were reported in the rural areas from Haryana and Rajasthan. The first incident was reported in Gurugram when a woman alleged that a 60-year-old man came into her house and chopped off her hair. She told police that she saw the man after which she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she saw her chopped-off braid lying next to her.
The next series of such incidents were reported in south-west Delhi’s Chawla area where braids on three women were allegedly chopped off. Police also told the media that they could see three men entering the house of the women. However, no breakthrough has been reported in any of the cases.