An elderly woman in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur was allegedly murdered by her relatives, who accused her of being a “witch” and slit her throat while she was on her way to the market.
Three women attacked her from behind on August 4, according to a report by The Indian Express, which addes that the police have arrested all three and filed a murder case, also applying provisions of the Prevention of Witch Practices Act.
Quoting police, the report said that the women followed 60-year-old Bhavi Singh before one of them struck her with a sharp-edged weapon — locally called a gowli — and left her body in a forest. At the time of the attack, Bhavi was walking to the Common Service Centre (CSC) in Kuyiyani village to collect her pension, the officer said.
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‘Accused had plotted her murder for five years’
One of the victim’s three daughters-in-law told The Indian Express that the accused had previously forced their way into the house and assaulted her mother-in-law and that they have been planning murder for the past five years now. She said that they blamed her mother-in-law for whatever misfortune occurred in the village.
{{/usCountry}}One of the victim’s three daughters-in-law told The Indian Express that the accused had previously forced their way into the house and assaulted her mother-in-law and that they have been planning murder for the past five years now. She said that they blamed her mother-in-law for whatever misfortune occurred in the village.
{{/usCountry}}The victim’s nephew, Gopinath Singh, said the accused had accused her of witchcraft for many years, adding: “The whole village stands against us.”
Police stated the killing was not solely linked to the witch-branding allegations, but also to a long-standing personal feud. The accused and the victim were from the same extended family and lived in the same village.
“There had been disputes between them for around two years. It was not purely a witchcraft-related matter, as the victim’s family claims,” officer Manoranjan Kumar told The IE.
The victim’s relatives, however, accused the police of playing down the witchcraft angle. “It is entirely a case of witch-branding,” the nephew insisted.
According to police, both the accused and the victim belonged to the Bhumij Adivasi community. The FIR was lodged by the victim’s son, Sudhir Singh, who said the three accused women were distant relatives.
“They had threatened my mother before. For years, they targeted her, calling her a ‘dayan’. It began after my father’s death, about six to seven years ago. My mother never practised black magic. But whenever people or animals fell ill, or accidents took place, they blamed her,” he was quoted as saying.
“They had already warned her they would kill her. On Monday, when she was going to collect her pension, all three followed her, found her alone in the forest, and attacked her throat and neck with a gowli,” Singh said.
Sudhir said his wife had also been branded a witch and that, although the matter was brought up in a village meeting, it was neither taken seriously nor did anyone support them.