Need advice: Mother obsessed with black magic rituals and possibly being financially exploited
Hi, I’m a 33-year-old man living in Mumbai, India with my wife. We stay separately from my parents, but close enough to visit often.
I’m deeply worried about my mother (60 years old). For more than 20 years, she has strongly believed that relatives and family members are doing black magic against her and our family. She frequently blames my father, her mother-in-law, my aunt, uncle, my in-laws, and others for problems in our lives.
Neither I nor my sister have ever seen any evidence of this, but she fully believes it.
Because of these beliefs, she has spent a lot of money over the years on babas, pandits, astrologers, taaviz, malas, rituals, rings, threads, “holy” water, and other remedies. During childhood, me and my sister were also forced to follow many of these practices.
Recently, the situation has become more serious. She has started asking for large amounts of money from my father and sister (1.5–2 lakhs). I found out through call recordings that a pandit is asking her for around 2.5 lakhs to “solve” these issues.
She also asked my wife to return her mangalsutra, and now she seems to be wearing fake jewellery instead of her original ornaments, which is very unusual for her. We are worried she may have sold her jewellery or is being financially manipulated.
At this point, I’m confused and concerned about:
Whether she is being scammed or emotionally manipulated
Whether this could be a mental health issue
How to protect her financially
Whether I can legally complain against such pandits/astrologers
Has anyone dealt with something similar in an Indian family? What practical steps should I take?