Jharkhand: Headless body found in Jamtara, police suspect witch-hunt

DUMKA: Police on Monday evening recovered the beheaded body of a 55-year-old tribal woman who was allegedly decapitated and buried near a river in Jamtara after being branded a witch.
The body of Sukhodi Hembrom, a resident of Dobhna village under Karmatand police station, was found buried on the banks of Barakar river in adjoining Chalna village. Sukhodi, who visited Rasidih village to look after her grandchildren while her daughter was away attending her ailing husband at the Jamtara sadar hospital, was missing for over a week, her sons told the police.
Jamtara subdivisional police officer Anand Jyoti Minj said some children, who had gone fishing in the Barakar river on Monday, spotted two legs of an adult protruding out of a mound of sand. After they alerted the village, locals went to the spot soon and informed the police. The police then exhumed Sukhodi's corpse.
Talking to TOI, Minj said, "Prima facie, it appeared that the deceased was beheaded with a sharp weapon. Her assailants had also chopped off her private parts before burying her in the sand. In his FIR, Sukhodi's mother, Shrawan Baski, complained that their extended family members and residents in Dhobna village had recently accused his mother of practising witchcraft.
Dumka: Police on Monday evening recovered the beheaded body of a 55-year-old tribal woman who was allegedly decapitated and buried near a river in Jamtara after being branded a witch.
The body of Sukhodi Hembrom, a resident of Dobhna village under Karmatand police station, was found buried on the banks of Barakar river in adjoining Chalna village. Sukhodi, who visited Rasidih village to look after her grandchildren while her daughter was away attending her ailing husband at the Jamtara sadar hospital, was missing for over a week, her sons told the police.
Jamtara subdivisional police officer Anand Jyoti Minj said some children, who had gone fishing in the Barakar river on Monday, spotted two legs of an adult protruding out of a mound of sand. After they alerted the village, locals went to the spot soon and informed the police. The police then exhumed Sukhodi's corpse.
Talking to TOI, Minj said, "Prima facie, it appeared that the deceased was beheaded with a sharp weapon. Her assailants had also chopped off her private parts before burying her in the sand. In his FIR, Sukhodi's mother, Shrawan Baski, complained that their extended family members and residents in Dhobna village had recently accused his mother of practising witchcraft.