Witchcraft Violence Continues Unabated, Odisha Man Walks Into Police Station With Severed Head

The inhuman side of humans rears its ugly head way more frequently that we'd like to admit. Even in this day and age, people are being beheaded, lynched or torched under accusations of practising witchcraft.

In a more recent, disturbing incident, a man chopped off the head of his 60-year-old aunt suspecting her to be a witch who was responsible for the death of his child in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. Carrying the severed head of a woman he allegedly killed on suspicion of practising witchcraft, the 30-year-old man walked around 13 kilometres to reach the local police station in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district and surrendered.

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Budhuram Singh told the police that he beheaded Champa Singh, his aunt, in the morning as he suspected that his daughter died three days ago because of black magic done by the woman on her.

He and the woman lived in Nuasahi village and they were tribals, Khunta Police Station inspector-in-charge, Swarnalata Minz, told PTI.

The accused also handed over to the police an axe used in the killing, Minz said, adding that the torso of the woman was recovered.

Champa Singh, a widow, was sleeping in the verandah of her house when Budhuram Singh allegedly dragged her out and decapitated her, police sources said. He then wrapped the severed head in a 'gamcha' (traditional towel) and headed for the police station.

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Several people were present at the spot but nobody tried to stop Budhuram Singh from killing the wife of his maternal uncle, states the PTI report.

Police arrested Budhuram Singh and registered a murder case while the body was sent for post-mortem examination.

The State Government¡¯s efforts to end witchcraft violence seem to have not yielded the desired result in Mayurbhanj district. In a similar incident, a 42-year-old woman was shot at while she sleeping in her house, by a man in the same district in December last year.

The 45-year-old man named Rupai Hansdah said he suspected Maina of practising witchcraft, after his 16-year-old son died of prolonged illness two years ago. He was booked under sections 458, 324, 307 of IPC, 25/27 of Arms Act and Odisha Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2013,

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Another district, Keonjhar, which is approximately 148 km away from Mayurbhanj, is equally affected by witchraft suspicions and killings. So much so, in February last year, a memorial for witch-hunt victims was built.

According to The Hindu report, the witch-hunt victims¡¯ memorial, said to be the first of its kind in the country, was opened to the public in the district headquarter town of Keonjhar. In Keonjhar, more than 50 persons have been killed in the last 10 years.

In Odisha alone, an average of 60 witchcraft-related murders have taken place annually since 2010, and they mostly come from tribal belts. Of them, 12 have been reported from Mayurbhanj.

It has been a problem of much concern in parts of Odisha given the recurrent cases that emerge from the state.

Blaming women for the acts of violence is an old scourge in a society bound by patriarchy, and witch-hunting is still very much prevalent in many parts of the country. The social stigma and isolation that the victims face are extremely torturous and unbearable.