Three women in Muzaffarpur district were allegedly branded as witches, and thrashed and tonsured by a group of people on May 4. A video of the incident went viral on social media, following which local police lodged a case and arrested nine people.

The incident, said police officials happened on May 4 at Dakrama village under the Hathaudi Police Station of Muzaffarpur district in north Bihar. The video of the incident went viral on social media on Tuesday.

“The incident took place on Monday...nine persons, including the main accused Shyam Sahani, have been arrested,” said a senior police official of the district. “Raids are being conducted to nab the absconding accused, who had apparently tonsured the heads of the women,” said Amitesh Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police. He also said “neither the victims nor the villagers informed the police about the incident”.

“We got to know about the incident after its video went viral on social media and acted swiftly to nab nine persons…more details in the case will be available only after further investigation,” Mr. Kumar said.

All three women, who are from the same family, were performing some rituals at a place in the village when they were allegedly caught by angry villagers on suspicion of being involved in black magic. They were thrashed, tonsured and paraded half-naked in the village.

“As many as 15 people have been named in the case and nine have already been arrested,” said Additional Director General of Police Jitendra Kumar. “Since the women and their family members have fled the village after the incident, their statement has not been recorded yet,” said Hathaudi Police Station Inspector Jitendra Dev Deepak.