Patna: A middle-aged woman was badly beaten up, tonsured and had her face coloured black before being paraded through the streets in Bihar after being branded a witch.
The incident took place at Afzalpur village in southern Bihar’s Gaya district on Thursday, but was reported to the police today. Police said the villagers drove the victim out of her home and paraded her through the streets, blaming her for the death of a three-year-old boy in the locality. Acting on the complaint of the victim, identified as Kalawati Devi, the police have arrested eight people so far. “We have arrested some persons and are investigating the case,” the local Gaya city superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar told the media today.
Incidents of women being tortured after being branded witches are common in Bihar. According to an official report, close to 700 women have been assaulted, tortured and meted out shabby treatment in public on charges of practicing witchcraft in the past two years in the state.
As per the report, altogether 329 such incidents were reported until August last year.
In 2013, 335 incidents of assaulting and torturing women accused of practicing witchcraft had been reported to the police. In some cases, the women were also made to consume human excreta.
Reports said most of the cases were reported from northern Bihar district of Darbhanga. In most of these incidents, however, action has not been initiated against the culprits despite the cases registered against them.
The witch hunting goes on unabated in the state despite Bihar’s Prevention of Witch Practices Act passed in 1999 to contain such incidents.
Social scientists blame the high illiteracy rate in rural areas and the deep-rooted superstition responsible for such incidents.
