Our Correspondent
TINSUKIA: The incident in Talap TE under Doomdooma PS on Thursday, which involved the death of a person and the subsequent beating of three women on suspicion of being witches, was indicative of the persistence of superstition and black magic despite awareness campaigns against witchcraft in the tea belts of Tinsukia district.
According to information, Biki Panika (27), an e-rickshaw driver and resident of Runiamari of Talap TE who had his hand plastered due to injury following a quarrel couple of days back was standing on the roadside when 3 passer-by women including a woman of 60+ looked obliquely at him and whispered themselves on Thursday morning. On the evening Panika died. The family members suspected that the 3 women did black magic on him and were witches. The women were severely beaten during evening by the garden workers till police rescued them and brought them to Talap OP. Demanding handing over of women to the public, several hundred agitated workers gheraoed the police station and finally the tension was mitigated at the intervention of senior police and magistrate who rushed from Tinsukia and Doomdooma. On inquiry it was revealed that the deceased Biki Panika was liquor addict and broke his hand after a brawl and perhaps sustained severe internal injury that remained untreated for days and might be the cause of his death, according a source adding that women had no past record of witchery. The women faced the brunt of public as their only fault was they looked obliquely at him and whispered themselves. The timely arrival of police saved the life of 3 innocent women.
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