Bihar woman lynched for practicing ‘witchcraft’
August 1st, 2012 - 5:44 pm ICT by IANSPatna, Aug 1 (IANS) A 65-year-old woman was branded a witch and lynched in a Bihar village Wednesday, police said.
Payari Devi, a Dalit, was beaten to death in Jehanabad district’s Shevenan village, about 50 km from here, police said.
People turned on her after the death of a man called Ashok Manjhi. Four people have been arrested.
The practice of branding women as witches and torturing them - often to death - continues unabated in remote rural areas of Bihar. A month ago, a woman in Sitamarhi district was forced by some people to eat human excreta after they branded her a witch.
Last year, the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) directed the state government to expedite the probe and trial in cases related to offences under the Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 1999.
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- Another woman tortured as a witch in Rajasthan - Jul 29, 2011
- Tribal woman branded a witch, beaten up in Rajasthan - Jul 08, 2012
- Branded witch and banished, woman seeks police help - Feb 11, 2012
- Bihar rights panel asks police chief to explain lathicharge - Sep 15, 2011
- Woman branded witch, brutally tortured in Rajasthan - Nov 06, 2011
- 'Witch' hunt continues in Rajasthan - Oct 04, 2011
- Woman branded witch, ordered to leave village - May 19, 2011
Tags: act 1999, ashok, bhrc, dalit, death of a man, human excreta, human rights commission, jehanabad district, old woman, practicing witchcraft, prevention, rural areas, state government, witch hunting, witches