A 57-year-old woman was allegedly killed in Basabuda village in Jharkhand’s Giridih district on Friday night after relatives accused her of practising witchcraft, police said. Investigators have taken her body for post-mortem examination and are searching for the accused persons.
The woman’s family alleged that members of her extended family attacked her and her husband after the death of a child in the family. According to the woman’s husband, the accused came to their house at night, dragged the couple outside and assaulted them.
He alleged that the attackers beat both of them before turning on his wife with a sharp-edged weapon. The woman suffered fatal injuries in the assault, according to the account reported to police.
The victim’s granddaughter, who said she witnessed the incident, alleged that her grandmother was killed in front of her after being branded a witch. The allegations have not been tested in court, and police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.
After being informed about the incident, Giridih Superintendent of Police Bimal Kumar directed Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer Jitbahan Oraon to send a police team to the village. Police took custody of the body and sent it for post-mortem examination as part of the investigation.
SDPO Oraon said police had begun an investigation, including into the witchcraft-related allegations, and that efforts were under way to arrest the accused. The police response is expected to establish the sequence of events, identify those involved and determine the circumstances that led to the woman’s death.
The case places the focus on the role of local law enforcement in responding to violence arising from accusations of witchcraft, while the investigation proceeds on the basis of witness accounts, medical findings and other evidence collected from the village.
