The Logic of Pashu: The Person who Saved People from Witches
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I am Sultan Wali, the 70-year-old village head numberdar of Bargo Bala. There are various encounters with witches, some of which I have witnessed with my own eyes.
Many years ago, there was a gathering in our village, and a man named Nisha played the flute in the neighbour-hood when he suddenly stopped and went outside only to return 5-10 minutes later. When we asked him where he went, he explained that he had rescued a man who had been captured by witches. Nisha was actually a pashu. Pashu is a Shina term denoting a person who saves people from witches. For instance, if someone is attacked or captured by witches, the pashu senses it and immediately goes to rescue that person. A pashu can be either a man or a woman. In a similar incident, my sister was also captured by witches, and Nisha went to save her, but he returned unsuccessful. When asking why, he said that he had tried to save her, but the witches had already cut off her head, so he couldn't save her. A pashu can save a person only if (s)he arrives before the head is cut off, but once the witches have decapitated the person, the pashu cannot save them. After rescuing someone from witches, the pashu immediately informs the family to give charity. They then slaughter an animal and distribute the meat in the name of God. This way, the life of the person captured by the witches is saved.
Many times, [also] our shepherds have been surrounded by witches. It is said that witches are afraid of fire. They have bent feet and dishevelled hair and often appear in the form of people. When the witches surrounded the shepherds, one of the shepherds quickly lit a fire and started hitting the witches with a burning stick, causing them to flee.
Another tale involves a man from our neighbourhood who went to another neighbourhood and was returning late at night. Around 10pm, while he was riding his horse back home, the horse suddenly stopped and refused to move forward. When he got down to see what had happened, he found a large walnut tree with three witches underneath, who were actually women from our neighbourhood whom he recognized. He picked up a stone from the path and threw it at them from a distance. One of the stones hit a witch, and they ran away. He then got back on his horse and went home, where he told his family the whole story about [his] hitting a witch with a stone. The next morning, it was discovered that one of the women from our neighbourhood had died. It is said that if someone injures a witch, the witch will call out the person's name, saying she misses them and wants to see them. If the person goes to the witch, the person dies and the witch's life is saved. If the person doesn't meet the witch, then the witch dies. In this case, the witch from our neighbourhood called out the man's name, saying she missed him, but the man knew what would happen, so he hid. Thus, the witch passed away.
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