Holy Man Beaten Up and Arrested over Failed Prophecy

Trishul Baba, the Nepalese “Trident Man” (real name Bishweshwor Chaudhari), recently posted the following (helpfully bi-lingual) prophecy on-line (now available in cache only):

SHREE GANESHAYA NAMAHA! AUM NAMAHA SHIVAYA! The discourse of Lord Almighty Shiva Baba to all earth inhabitants! Behold, June 22 and July 10 of 2007 belong to obliteration! The event will commence at 6.15 on June 22 and will conclude on July 10, Tuesday. Around 300 thousand persons will die in Nepal only. This incidence will occur all over the universe, spread throughout the cosmos. Anything can happen in the earth…It is possible that Pakistan will not exist sink forever…The person who considers this a farce and a tall story will regret and lament…Quagmires shall erupt and the earth shall rupture in many places, and then anyone caught in will be sucked in to doom…This period of destruction will continue till the dawn of the ‘Era of Truth’. The devastation will be unprecedented. This is the time of ‘Untimely Death’; it has been predetermined as the ‘Untimely Death’ for all the eartherners. This is the Revelation of God. Who lives in the universe rests on His will. Truth will live; all should strive and effort to live. Contact Tel. 2044216

The news travelled widely; one unconvinced website yesterday reported that

Lately lots of rumors have been going on about the earthquake coming in Nepal…[H]e has frightened everybody in Nepal. The strange thing is I got to hear all about this from a friend who is working in Dubai right now.

Alas:

When doomsday failed to smite Nepal early Friday morning as predicted a month before by the fake prophet, angry residents of Kathmandu beat up Trishul Baba and began demanding stringent action against him, resulting in security forces detaining him for questioning.

…When the pamphlets spread panic among the gullible, Nepal’s council of astrologers as well as the home ministry issued separate assurances, ruling out any cataclysm on Friday.

However, after the time of danger came and went without any untoward incident, enraged people thronged his house in Dhapasi in the capital and roughed him up.

Trishul Baba, speechless and looking deflated, was marched off by police to determine his reasons for making such dire predictions and creating a panic.

The report adds that:

He claimed he could cure people of their maladies by touching them with a trident, kept under a dazzling shade made of red cloth worked with gold and silver thread.

A piece from last year noted that

It is not only the remote districts where the witch doctors enjoy a roaring trade. Kantiput television channel reported how a shaman had become a legend in the capital itself.

A former construction worker turned god man, who is now known as Trishul Baba (The Trident Man), is doing brisk business in the Gaushala area, where he has his own ashram and attendants, including several women.

People wanting to consult him have to seek an appointment two days in advance, the channel reported.

The man claims to have received supernatural powers, including the ability to cure people afflicted with epilepsy, hypertension, and sexually transmitted diseases by touching them with his magic trident.

The channel showed the man moving around nonchalantly, wearing a crown over flowing locks, watching devotees as well as patients gesticulating wildly.

(Hat tip: Bulldada Newsblog)