Witch-hunt superstition kills one in Jharkhand

Witch-hunt superstition seems to be on the rise as three related cases were reported from different districts of Jharkhand. In one of the incidents, an elderly woman was lynched and killed as locals took her to be a witch.

Ranchi: A total of three cases have been reported in Garhwa, Palamu and Deoghar district of Jharkhand in which women have been slammed as witches and treated in a barbaric manner.

In Narayanpur village of Garhwa police station on Thursday, two girls started pretending to be possessed by ghosts and accused three women of the village of being witches. Police said, the villagers called the Panchayat and confiscated everyone's mobile phones. Few men in their inebriated state dragged the women and brought them amongst the crowd. Reportedly the women were lynched by the mob.

Garhwa Police Station Officer in-charge, Rajiv Kumar Singh reached the spot and took cognisance of the matter. SP Shrikant S Khotre told ETV Bharat that 21 people, including two women, have been arrested in this regard. However, nine accused are absconding.

In a similar incident, a resident of Barewa in Haidarnagar police station area of Palamu district, complained of assault and torture against three people. According to the police, the man accused few men who had brutally assaulted his mother after accusing her to be a witch. The injured woman was referred to Medininagar after treatment at Haidernagar Primary Health Center. Station in-charge, Surendra Prasad told ETV Bharat that FIR has been registered and an investigation is underway.

In a shocking incident on Thursday, late night in Bichkoda village of Jasidih police station area in Devghar, some people killed an elderly woman with a sharp weapon, the woman's husband was also attacked. Police said that the elderly woman and her husband were evicted from the village a few years ago. However, a month ago, the village panchayat had allowed the couple to stay in the village. Police have arrested two in this regard and five others are reportedly absconding.

Reportedly from 1990 to 2000, 522 women were brutally murdered in Jharkhand in the name of being a witch. After Jharkhand became a separate state, incidents related to the ‘witch superstition’ have increased rapidly. According to the data covering 2000 to 2019, 1800 women have been killed so far. The highest number of cases is from Chaibasa and Seraikela, where a total of 233 women were murdered. In the year 2020, till July 31, there have been 18 cases of harassment in the name of ‘Witch Bisahi’ in Jharkhand