Mob lynching and killing on suspicion of witchcraft continues to raise its ugly head in Jharkhand, which was the fourth state in the country to pass a bill against mob justice more than a year back and still waits for its enactment.
On Tuesday night, an elderly couple Shibal Ganjhu and Bhavni Devi, both in their early 60s and residents of Hesla village in Ladhup panchayat under Chandwa police station in Latehar district, were allegedly tied to a pole and beaten to death after a verdict by the pahan (tribal priest) of the village that they practised witchcraft.
Later, their bodies were dumped in their house.
Police got the information about the crime at night and reached the spot in the morning. After an investigation, the police have arrested 13 named persons while the bodies of the couple have been sent for post-mortem.
“A team was formed to carry out an investigation into the incident and on the basis of the complaint, all the named 13 persons including the two pahans who termed the victims as witches have been arrested on Wednesday,” said Latehar superintendent of police Anjani Anjan.
A media statement issued by the district police later in the evening stated that a few villagers had been accusing the couple of practising witchcraft and even blamed the elderly couple for the death of two youths on April 22 in a road mishap.
On Tuesday night, the two pahans Dhiraj Munda and Butru Pahan held the couple guilty of practising witchcraft and later at the village panchayat meeting point, the couple were tied to a pole and beaten to death.
Cases have been lodged under the Prevention of Witch Practices Act 2001- Jharkhand and culpable homicide and other sections of IPC.
Jharkhand was the fourth state after Bengal, Manipur and Rajasthan to pass a bill against mob lynching in December 2021. The bill is awaiting the President's consent for enactment.
Since then a youth had been torched to death in Simdega by villagers in January 2022 for tree felling, a youth was lynched in Hazaribagh in February last year, a forest committee member was lynched in May last year for resisting tree felling, three women were lynched near Ranchi in September on suspicion of witchcraft practice, a youth was lynched in Gumla on allegation of stealing goats in October and a47-year-old resident of Gomia in Bokaro, identified as Imran Ansari, was beaten to death in the same month for having illicit affair with a married woman.
Earlier this year in January, a middle-aged person with criminal antecedents was beaten to death on an allegation of ‘goat theft’ at a village in Giridih district and last month a 20-year-old Wajid Ansari in Chanho block of Ranchi was allegedly beaten for stealing and died after being admitted in a hospital in Ranchi.
According to the CID records of Jharkhand, in 2015, 46 women were killed after being branded as witches, 39 in 2016, 42 in 2017, 25 in 2018, 27 in 2019 and 28 in 2020. The figures for 2021 have not been compiled yet but it is being said that it is nearly 24. In seven years, more than 230 have been killed.
In cases of harassment after branding a woman as a witch, the police have registered 4,556 cases between 2015 and 2020 which means that every day two to three cases are recorded.
