Jharkhand is notorious for similar incidents.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Jharkhand police arrested four men on Thursday for allegedly stripping, beating up, and gang-raping a 45-year-old woman after branding her as a witch. Two more men who were involved in the crime are yet to be arrested.
The arrested are identified as Ashish Laguri, Ramesh Laguri, Mangal Singh Laguri and Bahadur Laguri. The police have started searching for Mantri Laguri and Jingi Laguri who have been absconding since the incident happened, reported The Hindustan Times.
The incident happened in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on June 10 when the victim was sleeping with her three children in her house. The accused allegedly took her to the house of Luria Laguri, a villager who was ill and asked her to cure her.
They branded the victim as a witch and accused her of bringing misfortune to Luria Laguri. The gang stripped her and assaulted her physically. Soon she fell unconscious and then Ramesh Laguri and Mangal Singh Laguri took her to a nearby school and allegedly gang-raped her.
The victim, whose husband is working in Jamshedpur, filed a complaint with the police on June 15 leading to the arrest of the four.
“The four arrested accused have been sent to jail and other two will be arrested soon. The victim has been sent to her brother’s residence after medical examination,” officer-in-charge of Tonto police station, Bamshankar Yadav, told Hindustan Times.
“Prima facie it seems to be a case of ‘superstition’ and ignorance. The woman was charged with witchcraft practices earlier too. The villagers are afraid of the accused youth for their violent approach in day to day village affairs. Police are investigating if they have victimized other women earlier too,” he added.
In a similar incident, a 65-year-old woman was allegedly beaten to death by four people who alleged she was practicing black magic in Bohanda village in Khunti district, in Jharkhand last month.
Accusing people of practicing witchcraft and attacking them are common in Jharkhand; 127 women were beaten to death in the state between 2012 and 2014 after being branded as a witch.