NCW seeks report from Orissa govt

Taking serious note of a tribal woman being allegedly paraded naked in a village in Orissa after being branded a witch, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought an action-taken report from the Orissa government within two weeks and will send its own fact-finding team to Tainsara village in Sundergarh district where the incident reportedly took place in May, if the government’s reply is unsatisfactory, spokesperson Romi Sharma said.

‘‘Taking suo-motu cognisance of media reports of the incident, we have written to the state government. If we find the authorities have not taken necessary steps, such as registering a case under the proper sections of law and taking action against the culprits, we will launch our own probe into it,’’ Sharma said.

The media reported on May 31 that villagers of Tainsara in Sundergarh district paraded the tribal woman naked last month and tried to hang her, accusing her of being a witch,but she survived when the rope broke.