In what was called a worst inhuman act, eight persons, including two girls, of a village in Ganjam district were tonsured and fed human excreta on suspicion that they were practising witchcraft. Police have arrested three of the co-villagers involved in the ghastly act in Olapur village under Chikiti block’s Ramchandrapur gram panchayat. They were identified as Ramchandra Behera, Prashant Nayak and Tareni Nayak.
“The police have registered a case and are investigating the case. The arrested will be presented in the court very soon,” said Brahmapur ASP Sashi Bhusan Satpathy. According to information, a kangaroo court in the village had accused the eight persons of killing village people through witchcraft and ordered that they be head-shaved in public. Five of them had it even harsher as the mob beat them up severely, broke their teeth and forced them to eat human excreta.
The victims have been identified as Mohan Sahu (70), Subash Behera (23), Keuta Behera (28), Amar Behera (18), Kartik Behera (35), Dandapani Behera (48), Jhunu Behera (19) and Sushma Behera (20). Tension had prevailed in the village after seven/eight villagers died in a span of a few weeks. However, villagers’ frustration rose when a lady, who claimed to have spirit of a goddess, said the deaths were caused by witchcraft and, even pointed at some villagers.
The kangaroo court met on January 18 night and the barbaric act was carried out by villages on January 19 morning at the village’s Hanuman Mutt. Most of the villagers were present. One of the victims, Dandapani Behera, somehow managed to escape and reported the incident to the Dhanghar police outpost. All tonsured victims, except Mohan Sahu, have left the village in fear. Mohan was undergoing treatment at the Brahmapur District Headquarters Hospital (DHH).