Christian Message Boards: 'Face-Clawing Monster' Terrifies Indian State

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Posted by Kindgo (Member # 2) on :

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20020819_135.html

Aug. 19
— By Sharat Pradhan

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Reports of a flashing space creature, or maybe a mutant bug that glows at both ends, have created panic in India's most populous state, triggering riots and lynchings that have killed more than a dozen people.

Victims report being scratched by something flashing blue, red or green that strikes only at faces and only at night. The creature has been dubbed "Muhnochwa," or "face-clawing monster."

Some police in Uttar Pradesh state have declared that Muhnochwa is an extraterrestrial being. Others say it is a "technologically developed special insect" that glows red from the front and blue from its rear, let loose by foreign "anti-national elements" -- a euphemism for Pakistani agents.

Scientists say they have found no evidence that it exists at all.

Police have said that at least two people have died and scores have been injured in alleged "Muhnochwa" attacks that began a month ago at the start of the monsoon. Details of the reported deaths, such as the injuries found on the bodies, were not available.

Terrified villagers have killed people suspected of being a Muhnochwa and one person died Sunday when police fired on a crowd storming their village post 40 miles from the state capital, Lucknow.

The crowd accused police of not doing enough to protect them.

"At least a dozen persons have been lynched by irate mobs of villagers who mistook them for Muhnochwa over the past month since the queer incident was first reported," state home secretary Dipti Vilas told Reuters.

In some areas, public gatherings of more than five people have been banned. Some villages are virtual ghost towns at night.

The attacks began in isolated villages but have spread to Lucknow, a bustling cultural center of two million people.

"I was sleeping on my terrace when around 2:45 a.m. on Tuesday I woke up with a start to find a bright red blinking object attacking my face and trying to pull me away," said Asma, who lives in Lucknow's old quarter.

"I screamed, but no sooner than my husband got up, it vanished into the thin air, leaving a couple of scratches on my face."

Witnesses describe the Muhnochwa variously as a creature or an object, shaped like a football, or a tortoise.

The attacks come a year after parts of neighboring Bihar state reported attacks by a mysterious "monkey-man," black and ape-like with large claws and, some witnesses said, sparkling red and blue lights.

Those attacks in turn came exactly a year after a similar creature terrorized New Delhi.

The Uttar Pradesh government has called in a team of scientific experts to investigate. But the Press Trust of India quoted the Indian Institute of Technology team saying it had found no evidence of the Muhnochwa's existence.

Instead, team member Professor Ravindra Arora said he believed the most likely explanation in the drought-stricken state was lightning balls, common during prolonged dry spells.