Villagers Detain 4 Over Sorcery Suspicion, Beat Complainant To Death In Odisha’s Ganjam

Berhampur: Tension flared up at Madhipalli village under Kabisuryanagar police limits in Odisha’s Ganjam district after villagers on Thursday allegedly thrashed the wife of one of four persons, whom they had detained over sorcery suspicion, to death after she lodged a complaint with the police.

The deceased has been identified as Tunu, wife Rajendra Nahak, whom the villagers had picked the previous evening while he was bathing in Baghua river. They also detained three others as and launched a murderous attack on them.

Nahak, however, managed to escape from their clutches and was rescued by police, who then got him admitted to Aska hospital. Tunu later filed a police complaint regarding the incident.

Meanwhile, two platoons of police forces reached the village to rescue the other three and were obstructed by the villagers, leading to a clash. They, however, were later rescued and taken to the same hospital for treatment.

Tunu’s son told the media that a meeting was conducted over sorcery suspicion in the village on Wednesday evening. A youth had reportedly earlier taken their names, accusing them of practising black magic, while claiming that he was possessed by a spirit.

Following this, villagers attacked them and they ran out of the village to save their lives. He found his mother dead on returning to the village this morning.

“Tunu had lodged a complaint with police following the attack on her husband. This irked the villagers, who then beat her to death,” Purusottampur SDPO Rajnikant Samal said, adding that the body has been recovered and sent for postmortem.

Meanwhile, two platoons of police force have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident. While all men have left the village fearing arrest, over 50 women were brought to the police station for questioning, the sources added.