‘Entire village ganged up to finish a family': Police arrest three of 23 named in FIR for Bihar ‘witchcraft' murders

Indian Express

a day ago

Purnia police, which has so far arrested three people for 'torching to death' five members of a tribal family on Sunday night over suspicion of occultist practices (witchcraft), said on Tuesday that deaths of at least five children in the last one-and-half years and latest one last week could have led to the crime. The police said it was a rare case in which the entire village seemed to have 'ganged up to kill' two men and three women of a family that they believed did black magic.
Those killed were identified as daily wager Babulal Oraon (65), his wife Sita Devi (60) who was suspected of practising the witchcraft, their son Manjeet Kunar (25) and daughter-in-law Rani Devi (22) and Babulal's mother Kato Devi (82).
The incident took place in Tetgama village under Mufassil police station, barely 15 km from Purnia town. The village is dominated by Oraon and other tribal community families.
Police have arrested fellow-villagers Mukul Oraon, Chhotu Oraon and Sanaullah from among the 23 named in the FIR, which also mentions a mob of around 150 unidentified people. 'At least five children have died in the last one-and-half years and the villagers suspected it was due to the witchcraft practised by Sita Devi,' said a villager on condition of anonymity. The village looks deserted as almost all inhabitants have fled since the crime came to the fore.
Narrating the incident, Babulal's brother Jitendra Oraon said: 'In a village of 21 tribal families, members of 18 families targeted three of ours with blunt objects. After the assault, they torched our houses. While we escaped, Babulal's entire family minus a boy got trapped in the fire and died.' He said people from neighbouring settlements did not come to their rescue.
Another villager alleged how Sanaullah, who lives near the village, had 'provided his tractor to other accused to remove bodies of the victims from the spot for Rs 40,000'.
Raghunath Oraon of neighbouring Dargah Tola of Raziganj panchayat said: 'By the time neighbouring villagers came to know about the incident, all bodies had been removed.' The police on Monday recovered bodies from a field 2 km from the village.
Purnia District Magistrate Anshul Kumar, who reached the spot on Tuesday, said: 'This incident is the result of superstition among the people. This shows that we need to work on the lack of literacy and awareness in these tribal pockets.'
Purnia Sadar Sub-Division Police Officer Pankaj Kumar Sharma said: 'Our investigation so far has revealed that the incident was triggered by a dispute over traditional healing practices or alleged witchcraft. The family of Babulal Oraon, who practiced such rituals, is believed to have been targeted after a child from Ramdev Oraon's family died three days ago and another fell ill. It seems this may have led to the attack.'
Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
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