Twelve people, including five women, have been arrested so far in an incident involving the murder of an elderly woman who was killed following the suspicion that she was practicing witchcraft on Sunday night, police said.
While the elderly woman was being thrashed by her relatives, her son was present at the spot, In-charge Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Khare said. They have been booked for murder (Section 302 IPC), Chhattisgarh Witchcraft Atrocities (Prevention) Act, 2005 and relevant others, the SP informed.
The deceased identified as Dukalhin Bai Patel (55) was tortured and beaten by the accused in front of her family members on the suspicion that she was practicing witchcraft, he said.
The incident occurred in Banjarpur village on the night of October 25. The victim’s brother-in-law Nakul Patel had suspected that Dukalhin Bai had practiced some witchcraft on a child in their family who was suffering from some kind of illness for a long time, Khare said.
They had frequent disputes over the matter and victim for the past few months was staying at her daughter's place in Jamul village. Nakul Patel on Saturday along with his two brothers had reached Jamul and asked Dukalhin to come to Banjarpur for seeing the child claiming his condition was serious, the SP informed.
According to the victim’s son Ashok when the woman reached home, Nakul and his relatives, including his wife asked Dukalhin to treat the child while blaming her black magic practices for his bad health. The dispute grew intense and women in the house attacked Dukalhin Bai. They started thrashing her with sticks, the SP said. They dragged the woman out of the house and allegedly put chili powder on her face and in her private parts, he said.
Soon after getting information about the dispute police reached at the spot and Dukalhin was rushed to a Health Centre nearby where she succumbed, the SP said.