A middle-aged Dalit woman was allegedly thrashed and burnt alive in her house on Saturday at Panchmah village, Gaya district, Bihar. The deceased – Hemanti Devi – was murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft.
According to police, Devi had a dispute with a family who had recently lost a member named Parmeshwar Manjhi. The family blamed Devi for the death alleging witchcraft.
On November 5, a meeting was called by the panchayat to resolve the issue. Parmeshwar’s family, in turn, brought a sorcerer from Jharkhand to put pressure on Devi so that she could confess to her alleged crimes.
However, nothing fruitful came out. On the same day in the afternoon, Devi’s house was surrounded by more than 100 angry villagers who assaulted her, dragged her from her terrace, closed the main gate and set the house on fire.
Terrified, Devi’s husband Arjun Das and son Amit Kumar ran to the police station for help.
However, by the time they arrived, Devi died.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Ram said that many escaped by the time they reached the murder spot. “Nine people have been arrested in this connection. Raids are going on to arrest the other persons involved in the incident. The body has been sent to the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College for postmortem,” the police officer said.
A case has been registered and investigations are on.
