Four Senior Citizens Lynched Over Suspicion Of Witchcraft Practice In Jharkhand
Villagers and police at the Nagar Pichkari village, where lynching took place in Gumla district
Ranchi: Living up to its reputation of being the ‘lynching hub’ of India, Jharkhand witnessed another yet incident of mob lynching, which claimed the lives of four people including two women, once again in Gumla district.
Significantly, all those killed by the mob were senior citizens. However, this time they had been killed on the suspicion of practicing witchcraft. Two of the deceased are from the same family.
According to the villagers, around 10 to 12 people (outsiders) entered Nagar Pichkari village which falls under Sisai police station and dragged the four victim to the main chowk of the village where they were lynched to death. The deceased have been identified as 65-year-old Suna Bhagat, 60-year-old Faguni Devi, 65-year-old Champa Bhagat and 60-year-old Peti Bhagat.
The investigating officers, who are probing this murder case believe that these people had been killed on suspicion of witchcraft. However, no arrests have been made in connection with this case.
When contacted Superintendent of Police, Gumla, Anjani Kumar Jha, while explaining the complexity of the case, told eNewsroom, “It seems to be a case of superstition and witchcraft so there could be complicity of local villagers also. The villagers are also not supporting us in our investigation. Hence the delay in arresting. But soon we will be able to nab the culprits.”
This is not a standalone case of witchcraft related killings. On June 29 also, a mother and daughter were hacked to death over witchcraft allegation in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The mineral rich state is infamous for women being killed in the name of witchcraft.
Meanwhile, recently in Gumla, four tribal men had been beaten mercilessly for skinning an Ox in the month of April. Later one Prakash Lakra had succumbed to his injuries.
While outside Gumla, in Kharsawan district, 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari was also lynched to death on the allegation of stealing a bike. The matter related to Ansari’s lynching had even been in United Nations too.
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