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Journalism of Courage
A 60-year-old woman was allegedly hacked to death with an axe in Garhwa district’s Bhandaria block in Jharkhand after a village resident accused her of practising witchcraft, police said.
The incident took place on the evening of October 7 in Madgari village, where the victim, Fulkuria Devi, was allegedly attacked by her neighbour, identified as Bagha alias Sawan Kisan, 42. Police said the assault appeared to have been triggered by suspicions that the woman was a “witch.”
Sub Inspector Deepak Maurya of Bargarh police station said an FIR had been registered against the accused. “First, the woman was attacked, and then, in revenge, her son also attacked the accused on the same day. Kisan was rushed to a Ranchi hospital and further inquiries will be done once he recovers,” he said.
Maurya added that a dispute had broken out between the two families after the woman was accused of practising black magic. “We are actively looking into the matter. After a post-mortem at Garhwa Sadar Hospital on Wednesday, the deceased woman’s body was released to her family,” he said.
According to a neighbour, Rajkumar Ram, the incident occurred between 4 and 5 pm. “Bagha Kisan went to Fulkuria Devi’s house and struck her with an axe,” he said. “When her son, Amar Lohar, heard the commotion and rushed to save her, he attacked Kisan with the same axe while he was trying to flee.” Rajkumar said Amar later surrendered to the police.
He added that Kisan’s brother had died during the Dussehra festival earlier this year. “It’s being said that a local ojha [witch doctor] told Kisan the old woman was responsible for his brother’s death,” he said. “But we never saw or heard anything to suggest she practised witchcraft.”
Village head Anita Lakra said superstition and lack of awareness continued to affect the region. “There was never any such accusation discussed in our village meetings,” she said. “This is purely a case of andhvishwas (blind belief). People here are uneducated and live in remote areas. They easily fall prey to such notions.”
Rajendra Ram, an advocate and member of the District Legal Services Authority, said a three-member team from the authority had visited the victim’s family to offer assistance and would submit a report for further support.
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