Woman branded as witch, beaten

Vadodara: Three persons including a woman were booked on Monday for branding a married woman as a witch and beating her up at Sankheda in Chhota Udepur.
On January 31, the three accused Shantilal Tadvi, his wife Dhani Tadvi and Gordhan Tadvi reached the house of the victim Sharda Tadvi.

Sharda’s husband Jayanti Tadvi stated in his complaint that the trio started shouting and asked the couple to come outside. Jayanti alleged that on coming out, the accused branded Sharda as a witch and asked the couple to leave the house and go away.

When Jayanti asked the trio to go away, they hurled abuses at him which led to an argument. The arguments snowballed into a brawl and the accused thrashed the couple. Jayanti told police that Sharda was beaten up badly with wooden sticks and it was only after the couple’s son intervened, the three accused left.

Later Sharda was rushed to a health centre at Naswadi where she underwent treatment for several days. After discharge the couple did not lodge a complaint, but when the trio came to their house again and branded Sharda as witch on Monday, they approached police and registered a case at Sankheda police station.

Police said that the accused and the complainant live in the same neighbourhood and there were some disputes going for few months between them, but the reason for branding can be known only after the accused are arrested.tnn