In a yet another case of witch-hunting at Saraikela, four members of a family were hacked to death by two brothers on Saturday mid-night following the death of a one-year-old child in the family. Assailant Shyamlal Munda and Raisingh Munda, later surrendered before the village ‘Chaukidaar’ along with the chopped head of 70-year-old Jinkaru Mundain and the body of the dead child.
“The list of the deceased includes — Jinkaru Mundain (75), her two sons Ghasiya Munda (50) and Hagal Munda (45) and daughter Soru Mundain (55). The incident occurred in Sosokeda, a remote village in Saraikela. The killing took place on Saturday night, while the bodies of deceased were recovered on Sunday afternoon,” said Saraikela-Kharsawan SP Indrajeet Mahtha.
Accused Shyamlal Munda during the interrogation accused Jinkaru Mundain of practicing witchcraft and held her responsible for the death of his one year child due to which he severed her head for taking revenge, added the SP.
Raisingh Munda also claimed that every time the old woman used to talk with his son, the child used to fall sick. On Saturday, she had again spoken to the child following which, he died in the night.
According to Shyamlal, they killed other family members along with Jinkaru Mundarin as he apprehended that they would kill other family members through black magic, a skill possessed by “all members in the family.”
According the police, the two families were also involved in land disputes for several years, and the death of the child on Saturday proved to be a fuel in the fire resulting into cold blooded murder of four persons.
Meanwhile, the district administration has called a meeting on Tuesday to review to discuss the situation and chalk out solution to check increasing superstition due to illiteracy in the area. “We will be sitting with the SP and other officials on Tuesday and work out a solution to deal with the situation. Ongoing awareness drive in the district will be intensified further so that the incident does not get repeated again,” said DC Chandrashekhar.
A team involving CDPO, ANM workers, Anganbadi Sevikas and other Panchayat Raj functionaries will also be formed in the rural areas for creating awareness against witchcraft and other superstitions rampant in the society, added the DC. “Chaukidars in the district will also be involved in the drive to make people understand that there is nothing like witch or anything in this world,” the DC said.
Recently, five women were also lynched by villagers of Maray Toli village in Ranchi, merely 45 kilometers from the State capital on the midnight of August 7, alleging them of practicing witchcraft.
Rolling out a plan to check such incidents of witch hunting in the State, Jharkhand Police later directed all SPs in the state to prepare a database of the most vulnerable spots in their areas on the basis of which proper action plan could be prepared.
After identifying the worst-affected areas, a mapping of the area was to be done by the district police so that area based action plan could be prepared in this regard. For creating awareness among the innocent and poor people against the menace, special cells at the district and State level was also to be formed for launching special drives through the Panchayati Raj functionaries other agencies of the State Government.
A review of the pending cases related to witch hunting under Range DIGs was also to be ensured on monthly basis, against which a report would be submitted with the CID headquarters in Ranchi.