Scourge of quack syndicates

It is indeed weird to learn that when rural people do not spend time these days to see a qualified doctor in cases of complicated diseases, a section of quacks continue to target innocent people. The latter mostly live in villages, and are gullible. They appear to remain prepared to get caught in the traps set by the syndicates of quacks. Lately, a new feature of the fraudulent business has come to the fore. It shows innocent women in larger numbers falling victim to the nets of quackery. Moreover, besides lone quacks, mostly males, husband-wife couples have also picked the 'trade of cheating' in order to make a quick buck.

Rural people call them 'kobiraj'. They have been engaged in the indigenous profession of curing people of many incurable ailments for ages. They use common herbs and also unknown barks and roots in their healing process. The profession of 'kobiraji' (practice in herbal medication) was once regarded as an honourable one in early Bengal. Even in the relatively modern times of allopathic and other forms of treatment, the 'Kobiraj' communities would enjoy their distinctive place in society. The educated classes, however, had little faith in herbal medicines. They would dismiss this treatment method as somethingphony.

Rural folks have long had unwavering trust in them all along. This scenario started changing with the reduction in the number of genuine herbal practitioners. Thanks to the entry of allopath practitioners and their visits to the remote areas, the herbal healers began winding up their trade and opted for other occupations. In the vacuum, fake 'kobiraj' communities started filling the void. In cases, they were found coercing the simple villagers into taking their home-made potions. Those were touted as being without side-effects. Few of their patients doubted their assertions. Many of them could discover later that what they were offered in the name of cures were just placebos. Sometimes, after fatalities, those medicines proved comprising harmful objects, mostly metals and chemical concoctions.

To the utter disbelief of the educated urban residents, countless people still have trust in herbal medicines.In the 21st century Bangladesh, a nation aiming to graduate soon into a developing country status despite lagging behind others socio-economically, women's turning to a 'kobiraj' to curetheir infertility or sterility defies logic. There are health complexes manned by young lady doctors and nurses in all parts of Bangladesh. Moreover, expertgynecologists are available in the nearby towns and cities. Yet women remedy-seekers cannot resist being spellbound by the well-rehearsed harangues of a 'kobiraj' and his 'wife' and assistants.

Thus a number of sterile women came across an itinerant and supposedly noted herbalist specialising in the treatment of women's infertility. He and his wife had been on a stopover in that remote village. Learning about him from people around and feeling convinced, a lot of women saw the 'kobiraj'. They received his anti-infertility medicines in exchange for fees ranging between Tk 20,000 and Tk 30,000. On being assured of becoming pregnant in due time, they returned home. In a couple of months, they found that their eventual motherhood was not far. Changes in their outer abdominal shape filled them with immense delight. But after some time, the bulge in the lower part of the body proved not even remotely linked to pregnancy. In short, the whole developments were caused by certain tablets. The women's swollen bellies were gone in the following days. Their trauma and the shocks of losing huge amounts of money are understood.

These criminal activities have once again become rampant in the Bangladesh villages. In general, quacks blackmail people emotionally, finding them desperate to have a cure for themselves or their loved ones. The situation can be coped with only by creating awareness among people.

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