Orissa woman lynched as ‘witch’, 10 held
September 27th, 2010 - 1:48 pm ICT by IANSBhubaneswar, Sep 27 (IANS) A 65-year-old woman was beaten to death in Orissa’s Jharsuguda district for allegedly practising witchcraft, police said, adding that 10 people were detained in the case Monday.
Gangi Munda was killed in Naxapali village, about 25 km from Jharsuguda district headquarters, late Saturday by some in the presence of other villagers.
“We have detained 10 suspects for questioning. We will arrest them after further investigation,” police inspector C.M. Pradhan told IANS.
According to police, a two-month-old baby of the village died of bronchopneumonia — an illness of lung — after being treated at a nearby government hospital Saturday.
The baby’s parents, relatives and some villagers blamed Munda for the death and accused her of bringing miseries to the area by practicing witchcraft.
“The villagers then dragged her out of her home and beat her to death,” another police official said.
According to the 2001 census, Jharsuguda district, 374 km from here, has a population of 514,853 and 31.55 percent of them are tribals. Many illiterate villagers are superstitious and believe that witchcraft is behind their illness.
- Tribal woman killed for suspected witchcraft in Tripura - Feb 11, 2012
- Another Assam woman killed for suspected witchcraft - Apr 18, 2011
- Teenager held in Chhattisgarh for killing woman - Jun 20, 2011
- Man kills brother over land tensions, witchcraft - Nov 01, 2011
- Dalit woman killed in Bihar for practising witchcraft - May 24, 2012
- Irritated by wailing, father kills baby girl - Feb 06, 2012
- Two killed for practising witchcraft - Jan 02, 2011
- Three of a family lynched on allegation of witchcraft - Aug 09, 2009
- Couple blinded for alleged witchcraft - May 21, 2011
- Tribals ostracise woman for ploughing - Jul 29, 2011
- Four killed in Assam, witchcraft suspected - Jun 21, 2011
- Man held for killing daughter to practise witchcraft - Apr 28, 2010
- Woman forced to eat human excreta on witchcraft charge - Apr 28, 2012
- British police to be trained to spot sorcery - Apr 28, 2012
- Elderly man beaten to death in Rajasthan - Aug 11, 2011
Tags: census, district headquarters, gangi, government hospital, miseries, month old baby, munda, old woman, orissa, parents, police inspector, police official, population, practicing witchcraft, presence, relatives, witch