THIS is apropos of the report ‘Spiritual healer subjects woman to torture’ (May 25). People going to ‘pirs’ with problems has become very common in Pakistan now.

A majority of the visitors comprise women who are either unable to conceive or have grown tired of their oppressive husbands or in-laws or are concerned that they have become victim to someone’s ‘black magic’.

The spurious spiritual healers sometimes exploit women to their own advantage. My point can be very efficiently illustrated by Saadat Hassan Manto. In this story, an elderly-looking person introduces himself as a ‘saint’ to an ignorant man named Mojo.

Mojo, mesmerised by the ‘Maulvi Sahib’, takes him to his house where eventually the ‘Moulvi Sahib’ takes advantage of his wife and daughter.

To eradicate this kind of ill from society, we ought to educate our folks about the fraudulence of these evils.

SANDHYA KARAMAT BARLAAS Bagh, Azad Kashmir