Three Held For Killing Villager On Witchcraft Suspicion In Kalahandi

Bhawanipatna: Sadar police of Bhawanipatna arrested three persons of a family for allegedly murdering a man on the suspicion of practising witchcraft practice, on Wednesday. They were forwarded to court in the evening and sent to judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.

The arrested were identified as Buchu Majhi (45), and his two sons, Labe Majhi (25) and Makara Majhi (19).

The incident took place on August 30 at Jhinkapita village, about 13 km from Bhawanipatna, in Kalahandi district.

The deceased, identified as Madan Majhi (45), was waylaid by the three while he was returning home with his wife and two children in the evening. “They abused Madan and accused him of practising witchcraft. A scuffle ensued between them and they thrashed him severely. When Madan fell down, they stoned him to death,” said IIC of Sadar police station Pradeep Kumar Dharua.

Ignoring his wife’s pleas, the accused dragged the body and buried it 2 km away near a nullah. They also threatened his wife with consequences if she reported the matter to the police, he said.

“With no one from the village coming out in her support, the woman, an expectant mother, kept mum about it. A day after the incident, she went to her parents’ place and told them about it. Her family members then lodged a complaint with the police station,” the IIC added.

While the complaint was filed two days after the incident, it took police another three days to nab the accused persons, who were on the run. On being apprehended, they confessed to the crime and took police to the place where they had buried the body.

Police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem.