Two Charred alive on suspicion of practising witchcraft; 9 arrested in Karbi Anglong

BOKAJAN: An elderly woman and a youth were thrashed and charred alive on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Langhin Rohimapur village under Dokmoka Police Station in Karbi Anglong.

Both Ramawati Halua (60) and Bijoy Gour (26) were attacked by the villagers on the intervening night of September 30 after a quack said that the duo was casting evil spells causing 'illness and unnatural deaths' in the village.

Karbi Anglong Police arrested nine prime accused, including a woman, and hunt is on to nab seven other co-accused in connection with the case. The duo was severely thrashed and burnt to death by the mob of villagers.

"We have recovered and seized the weapons used in the attack and collected samples of the half-burnt bodies from the assault site. Further investigations are on," said Karbi Anglong Superintendent of Police Debojit Deori.

In November 2018, one Socheng Teron was killed in a similar case of witch hunting in Bokolia Klurdung village in Karbi Anglong. Days before, an elderly couple was branded as witch and they faced a similar mob wrath in the same village under Bokalia Police Station in Karbi Anglong.

Debojani Bora, a national-level athlete of Dokmoka Serekali village was beaten black and blue by a mob which branded her a witch back in 2014. She, however, survived the brutal assault and was recovered by police in an unconscious state later. In August, 2013, another 60-year-old woman was severely assaulted in the same area on suspicion of her being a witch.

Superstition always persists in the remote villages of the hill district of Karbi Anglong where access to education and healthcare is negligible. In June 2018, two youths of Guwahati, who came to visit the scenic Kanthilangso Falls in Karbi Anglong, faced a violent attack by a mob of about 100 people who suspected them to be child lifters.

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