"Just theatre performers, don't support any cult," says Russian tourist on black magic rumour in Goa

Following rumours of black magic during a performance in Goa, Russian artistes refuted the allegations of black magic and said they do not support any cult or religious organization.

A theatrical performance based on the life of King Vikramaditya by Russian artistes was allegedly disrupted by panchayat members at Paliem Pernem in North Goa last month. The panchayat members alleged that the foreign nationals were practising black magic.

Russian Federation citizen Olga Makhnovetsky and Belarusian national Mikola Dranich along with other artistes were performing the re-enactment of the story in Russian.

The foreign nationals said they were misunderstood and only performed a story linked to Indian cultural history.

"We do not support any cult or religious outfit. We are just theatre performers. The story performed has a strong legacy of Indian culture," Olga Makhnovetsky told reporters here.

They claimed they had informed the local panchayat in advance about their performance.

( With inputs from ANI )