person has died every 17 days' in the last four months.

Now, a mortal fear has gripped Amloh, forcing people to go off sex, alcohol and even non-vegetarian food in a bid to purge themselves of what they call a 17-day death curse.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) is again the 17th day and we are terrified," said Kuldeep Singh, the sarpanch.

"The world may not believe this but we have lost five perfectly healthy persons. One just dies every 17 days. We are hoping nothing happens to any of us this time,' he said. ``Maybe Kherha Devta (the presiding deity) is unhappy with us. Somebody must have done something very wrong, landing us in this mess.''

It all began on May 13, when 55-year-old Ruliya Ram was found dead on his bed. Villagers say he was fine a day before. Then it was Seema Devi, who complained of a brief illness before she died on May 30. The third to die in mysterious circumstances was 22-year-old Rahul - exactly 17 days later on June 16. After that, it was Dharma Pal on July 3. The last to die, 19-year-old Raman Kumar, had a minor chest infection but, one of his family members said, "He suddenly collapsed and was declared brought dead at Yamunanagar hospital when we rushed him there."

Kiram Kumar, Raman's uncle, said, "He had a meal with us but within moments he dropped his neck to the left and was gone."

Kunta Devi, 70, said in all her years in Amloh she had never seen such anxiety and foreboding.

"Everyone is praying, everyone is hoping no harm comes to their respective families. We have an all-night havan to stop the unthinkable from happening tomorrow. The deaths have to end here."

Source: Times of India