Men who would readily consult specialists for diabetes or acidity hesitate to seek help for erectile issues or premature ejaculation.
Published Nov 25, 2025 | 11:38 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 25, 2025 | 11:38 AM
A roadside Ayurvedic clinic promising sexual wellness.
Synopsis: Recently, a Bengaluru techie lost several lakhs of rupees and had a damaged kidney due to a roadside ‘baba’ promising “quick relief for sexual problems”. Doctors said people consult such quacks since sexual health carries a level of stigma unmatched by any other condition.
In Bengaluru, the tech capital of India, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) labs rise beside glass towers, a pavement “Ayurvedic guru/baba” selling sexual virility potions has managed to con a software engineer out of ₹48 lakh. The case, now under police investigation, lays bare a disturbing paradox: The educated elite still falls prey to age-old fears, whispered myths, and miracle cures sold under a tarpaulin sheet.
The 30-year-old victim, a software developer with a multinational firm, told police he was lured in May by a small tent promising “quick relief for sexual problems.”
What began as a hesitant enquiry spiralled into months of coercion, fear, and astronomical payments for exotic-sounding “herbal medicines,” including one alleged to cost ₹1.6 lakh per gram.
Doctors later confirmed that the concoctions he had consumed had caused kidney damage.
A software engineer working with Capgemini was duped of ₹48 lakh after approaching an “Ayurvedic Dawakhana” to enhance his sexual performance. Case registered in Bengaluru. Vinay Guruji the prime accused is absconding. Investigation underway. pic.twitter.com/06HF9kBgdS
— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) November 23, 2025
An FIR registered by the Southwest Division Police in Bengaluru names two accused — a self-styled healer, Vijay Guruji, and the owner of Vijayalaxmi Ayurvedic Shop in Yeshwantpur. The DCP has since ordered a crackdown on all such roadside medical tents.
However, the story does not end with an arrest. It opens up a more complex, troubling question: Why do well-educated Indians still seek sexual-health treatment from unqualified quacks operating in the shadows of India’s most modern cities?
The footpath tents selling “sexual power” tonics are easy to dismiss as relics of bygone India, the kind most people assume only the uninformed would approach.
They sit under torn tarpaulins, surrounded by hand-painted boards and dusty plastic bottles. What isn’t widely known is that a growing number of their customers are educated young men – graduates, professionals, even postgraduates – quietly seeking help outside the formal medical system.
Dr Pramod Krishnappa, Uro-Andrologist at NU Hospitals in Bengaluru, agrees that in his clinical practice, he often sees many people who have consulted such quacks before reaching out to him.
Interestingly, Dr Shivalingaiah M, a urologist from Bengaluru, said this has been the case for several years now. “It is just that here the person has lost a lot of money and kidneys and hence has filed a FIR. Thousands of them have not just lost money — some kidneys as well — yet chose to keep quiet or share it with us secretively after the damage has been done.”
He explained that the profile of such patients has changed dramatically, and they routinely see young men who arrive at their clinics only after experimenting with treatment from a roadside “guru”.
“These are not uninformed, illiterate men,” said Dr Padmini Prasad, renowned gynaecologist and sexual health doctor. She said they are engineers, MBAs, chartered accountants, medical students and even police officials.
“Many have researched their symptoms online, but sexual anxiety has a way of overruling everything they know,” she added. Doctors insisted that this particular case of FIR in Bengaluru is merely a symptom of something bigger and far more widespread.
Meanwhile, Dr Pramod argued that it is not just about people who lose money and health to such quacks on footpaths. He said many men blindly order products that cure their sexual concerns after seeing a fancy Instagram reel or YouTube video.
Renowned nephrologist Dr Arvind Canchi, referring to this case, took to X and warned, “Beware of native (ayurvedic) medicines. Some of them can cause kidney damage. We see many such patients,”
Dr Mahesh G, a psychiatrist from Bengaluru’s Spandana Hospital, argued that in a society where sexual performance is treated as a measure of masculinity, the moment something feels “off”, shame takes over — no degree shields against it.
They said sexual health carries a level of stigma unmatched by any other condition. Men who would readily consult specialists for diabetes or acidity hesitate to seek help for erectile issues or premature ejaculation. The fear of being recognised at a clinic often outweighs the fear of consuming unknown substances.
“A quack offers what a hospital cannot — anonymity,” said Dr Padmini Prasad. Inside a tent, the patient becomes invisible; there are no files, no registration counters, no questions that might trigger shame.
Calling this case a deeply concerning one, Dr Pramod told South First, “As a medical professional and uro-andrologist dealing with male infertility and men’s health, I find this reported incident deeply concerning. The victim was apparently convinced to pursue an unverified ‘sexual wellness’ treatment and suffered a substantial financial loss.”
Although it is understandable that no treatment can be 100 percent safe or 100 percent successful, he argued that patients should at least have common sense to know where to go and where not to go.
Sexual dysfunction is rooted in complicated physiology: Disrupted blood flow, hormonal imbalance, neurological pathways, or psychological triggers like performance anxiety. However, quacks condense this science into a familiar cultural narrative — your semen is weak, your body heat is high, your ‘vital power’ is depleted.
For many men, including those with degrees in engineering or finance, these explanations echo the myths they grew up hearing, making them more believable than clinical jargon.
The techie reportedly trusted the “Ayurvedic guru” because the diagnosis aligned with ideas he already carried about masculinity and sexual strength.
Dr Pramod said, “I have heard of people losing significant money at these roadside tents, where a ‘Baba’ usually runs the show, offering a spread of so-called sacred ‘roots’ from the Himalayas.”
Interestingly, even Ayurvedic doctors have warned people of such “gurus”, “babas”, and quack doctors who sit inside the tents offering “shakti booti/mahashakti booti” often sold as Himalayan or tribal herbs, which, according to doctors, are mixed with steroids.
“Devi Rasayan Churna”/”Shukra shakti churna”, which is marketed as semen-strengthening powders, sometimes found with heavy metals. “Vajra tailam”/”shakti taillam” oils, which claim to “restore power instantly”, are sometimes even mixed with sildenafil-like chemicals. “Sanda” oil is the most seized variant and extremely unsafe. There are also “purush bal vati/purush virya vati” tablets claiming to fix premature ejaculation.
“The most common ones I have heard of from my patients are Shilajit, which is chemically adulterated, ashwagandha and ‘horse power powder’,” said Dr Pramod.
India’s education system leaves young adults fluent in calculus, coding, and chemistry — but utterly unprepared to understand their own bodies. Without formal sex education, even highly literate men fall back on hearsay, pornography-fuelled misconceptions, or roadside advice.
Dr Padmini said, “Young professionals can navigate complex systems at work, but when it comes to sexual health, they are still relying on folklore. The shame attached to these conditions pushes them towards the first reassuring voice they find — often a quack,”
Diabetes specialist and sexual health counsellor Dr Sunitha Sayammagaru from Telangana, who is popular on X for her posts on sexual health education, suggested, “Don’t go to any roadside tents that will offer treatment to sexual problems. Sexual problems are complex. And the treatment is multilayered.”
She said it involves proper diagnosis, investigations as needed, and proper management. Management includes not just evidence-based medicines; due importance should be given to psycho-social aspects as well. “Then this person or couple may need counselling, counselling therapy, psychotherapy etc.”
She stressed that roadside tent medicines are not evidence-based and can cause liver and kidney damage, as seen in this techie’s case.
Interestingly, even Ayurvedic doctors have warned people numerous times against visiting these quacks. Speaking to South First, renowned Ayurvedic specialist from Bengaluru, Dr Giridhar Kaje, said, “Way back in 2017 itself, I had written an article about how men end up getting into trouble.”
He explained that these people also have a modus operandi. They befriend people in bus stops and take them to such tents after convincing them that they also had similar problems and it was sorted after taking the medications from these “guru” or “baba”. “They even have pictures, maybe AI-generated ones taken with celebrities to impress the customers.”
“Later, they give them a list of medicines they can buy in Ayurvedic shops. The list will be intentionally expensive. After that, they say that we will provide the same medications at a lower price and won’t let them stop the medicines in between. Some even get blank cheques signed from these men,” explained Dr Kaje.
He said, “There are medications for sexual health issues, but they need to be taken under the strict supervision of Ayurvedic doctors.”
The Bengaluru techie told police he was warned that stopping the treatment could “endanger his life,” a psychological tactic investigators say is commonly used to trap clients in repeated purchases.
Multiple government labs have previously found that many unregulated aphrodisiac powders and tonics contain high doses of steroids, heavy metals like mercury and lead, and synthetic stimulants. These can cause long-term liver damage, hormonal crashes, hypertension and kidney injury — exactly what happened to the victim.
Yet, such stalls mushroom, thriving on weak regulation and deep-rooted stigma. The immediate fallout of the case — the removal of illegal medical tents — may dismantle the most visible layer of the problem. However, the deeper crisis remains: Sexual health is still a subject hidden in embarrassment, driving even the well-educated toward pseudoscience.
Dr Pramod said sexual health remains an area where misinformation, stigma, and fear make individuals vulnerable to exploitation. Sexual medicine is a science, too. “Sexual health conditions in men are common, treatable, and best managed through structured evaluation by trained urologists, endocrinologists, psychiatrists, or sexual medicine specialists.”
He said patients should never feel pressured into secrecy or alternative “quick fixes”. The case highlights the urgent need for public education about recognising certified healthcare providers and seeking care only at licensed medical centres. Dr Pramod said this incident could encourage more people to seek safe, science-based care and report suspicious practices promptly.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
