A woman was set on fire after being beaten to death and in a separate incident, another woman was thrashed mercilessly, stripped naked and had chilli powder shoved in her private parts in Chhattisgarh.
These horrible incidents occurred as the women were considered to be witches highlighting the alarming display of superstitious beliefs.
Both these women were branded “tonhi" — one who practise black magic and witchcraft — and the mob held them responsible for recent deaths in their families, according to a report by The Times of India.
Rohit Dhruv, a 27-year-old resident of Tatibandh suspected that his mother Sumitra, 55, was a tonhi who practised black magic and killed her.
Amanaka police station in-charge DP Sharma said,
Rohit in his statement to police said that he saw a dream that his mother was swallowing him as he was already suspecting that his mother was a witch.
He woke up in horror and started beating his mother black and blue. When she ran to escape, Rohit attacked her repeatedly with a pan on her head causing her death. After this, he poured kerosene oil on her body and set her ablaze.
He later surrendered to the police. The burnt body of his mother has been sent for autopsy.
The police stated that Rohit’s severe outburst may have been a result of the trauma caused by his two brothers’ untimely death. Their death made him think that they were victims of black magic.
A case of murder has been filed against him while the imposition of other sections of the Witchcraft Atrocities Act in 2005 are to follow interrogation, police told the publication.
In another cruel incident, a woman was brutally beaten along with her husband at Mudipar village in Rajnandgaon district after being identified as a witch by a 'baiga' (witch doctor) named Budharu Gond. Following the death of a newborn in a tribal family living in the neighbourhood, a group of superstitious people told the family that the newborn died due to black magic.
Rajnandgaon SP Prashant Agrawal told Times of India:
A group of at least 12 persons including women barged into the house of the couple and thrashed them hard, stripped the woman naked before shoving chilli powder in her private parts.
As a result, the woman was left bleeding and unconscious. She was later admitted to Khairagarh hospital. The assault began at 12:30 pm on Tuesday and went on till 3 pm.
Agrawal added that nine persons, including two women and Budharu, had been arrested while there are three more women still to be arrested.
A case under Section 3,4 of Witchcraft Atrocities Act in 2005 and 294, 323, 147, 454, 354 of the IPC has been lodged against all of them and more sections would be added depending on the woman’s injury.
Dr Dinesh Mishra, who has been fighting against evil practices of superstition and black magic for 20 years, condemned the assault on women saying:
I have been visiting such villages under the grip of superstition to spread awareness among people and we would visit Mudipar too.Dr Dinesh Mishra to Times of India
"People need to understand that there is no such thing as black magic, in both the incidents, people were victims of superstition which caused death and severe injuries to both women, " he said.
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