‘Witchcraft’ claims in Jharkhand village, 65-year-old woman abducted from home, beheaded

According to police, she lived alone. Her daughter, Lalita Devi, lives in Delhi with her husband, Umesh Mandal, who told The Indian Express that the woman had been facing harassment by villagers for a long time.

He said that on November 27, when a shraddh feast was being held in the neighbourhood, the neighbours came and asked her to come along and eat. She refused, saying she was diabetic and would eat roti at home, but they pressured her and dragged her out of the house.

Umesh claimed the conflict escalated after the suicide of a young man from the family of one of the accused around 10 days earlier. “The family started saying that my mother-in-law was a daayan (witch) and that she caused it. They spread rumours that she ‘ate’ their boy. They provoked the whole village against my mother-in-law,” he said.

Umesh said that when she insisted she would not go to the feast, the accused pressured her. “Around 7.30 in the evening, they dragged her out of the house. A woman who cooks food there saw it. They stuffed a saree cloth in her mouth so she could not scream. They took her towards their house near a bamboo structure. What happened after that, no one knows. We did not see the killing,” he alleged.

Umesh further alleged that this was not the first time the woman had been branded a witch. “It happened once about four to five years ago when police intervened and warned them. This time, they succeeded in killing her,” he claimed.