Jajpur: A miscreant killed an elderly couple and set their house on fire over suspicion of 'practising sorcery' at Suri Sahi tribal village under Kalinga Nagar police station limits of Jajpur. The deceased couple was identified as Basanti Balmuch and Kailash Balmuch.
Elderly couple burnt to death over witchcraft suspicion in Odisha Charan Singh Meena, Superintendent of Police Jajpur, said that the bodies of the two have been sent for post mortem.
A case has been registered at Kalinga Nagar police station and a probe is underway. Strict action will be taken against the guilty, Meena said.
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Earlier, on June 15, a 29-year-old man had allegedly chopped off the head of a 60-year-old woman suspecting her to be a witch who was responsible for the death of his child. Later, he had brought the severed head to the police station and surrendered.
The state government promulgated the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act in 2013 to check witchcraft-related crimes but the number of cases has not shown any significant decline.
Even after Odisha became the fourth state to enact the law against black magic and witchcraft after Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the tribal areas are still dominated by the superstitious practices killing many each year.
(With inputs from ANI)
