Invincible amulets?

KALASIN: Hubris often comes before a fall, but the demise of one superstitious man in Kalasin province perhaps came more predictably than most. The body of the man in question was found in a small shack in a forest of this northeastern province. Maj Phabun Titiyan, an Inspector at Kalasin Muang District Police station, said that the victim had been beaten to death with blunt instruments. Though police had yet to give final confirmation of the victim’s identity, a medical card he was carrying gave the name Buan Munri. Whatever the victim’s name, evidence revealed that an attack on the man’s life might not have been wholly unexpected. For a start, his stomach was covered with a large tattoo of a design believed to give protection from weapons. He was also found with a shoulder bag containing a large collection of amulets, charms, pendants and Buddha images. An autopsy confirmed the obvious – that the cause of death was multiple trauma to the head and neck. Examiners also found two strange bullet wounds where the man had been shot with a homemade rifle. Remarkably, however, the bullets had apparently bounced off the victim, leaving him only bruised. As it turned out, these wounds may have been the real cause behind his death – at least in a roundabout way. The owner of the shack where the body was found, 53-year-old Lai Phanbunmee, said that the man was not from his village, but often came to stay in the shack. He was an avid collector of charms, spells and anything else to do with the supernatural. The victim liked to claim that his lucky charms made his skin impenetrable to knives and bullets. So convinced was he of their power that he often invited people to prove his claims by stabbing or shooting him, K. Lai said. The man’s invincibility annoyed some local youths, however. Finding that they could indeed not kill the man with their homemade gun, they decided to try their luck with that most classic of weapons – a length of 2″ x 4″ wood. Believing the attack was carried out by at least two people, police are now questioning local youths. K. Lai said that he had lit candles to help the victim’s spirit find the path to heaven.