Mob kill five women in India ‘witch hunt’

Ranchi: Five women were beaten to death here early on Saturday for allegedly practicing witchcraft, police said. Their village is close to the state capital of Ranchi. “They blamed the women for misfortune in the village and alleged it was their fault that many people here were falling ill”, local police inspector Bandana Bakhla said.

Superintendent of police Raj Kumar Lakra confirmed that a group of villagers who suspected that the women were practicing witch craft has attacked on the women using lathis and sharp edged weapons which lead to the death of the women.

Killings on the suspicion of witchcraft have a fairly high occurrence in Jharkhand and in the past, many such instances have come to light in the state. One woman named Ittwari was dragged out of her home yesterday night by villagers, on allegations of witchcraft.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das condemned the latest killings in a statement today, urging society to “ponder over it”.

People living in India’s impoverished tribal states, like Jharkhand, Assam and Odisha, often resort to the occult and sorcery in an attempt to solve their problems. Over 1,000 women have been killed in the state in the last decade for allegedly practising witchcraft, according to an estimate.

The cops also say that prima facie it seems that villagers were involved in the incident and there was no outside influence.