The police registered an FIR based on this complaint. (Representational/File)Four people including three women were allegedly tied to a pole, assaulted with hot iron rods and made to consume human excreta after being accused of “witchcraft” in Jharkhand’s Dumka district, police said. The incident occurred Sunday night in a village in Saraiyahat area.
Dumka SP A Lakra said police have arrested six people who reside in the same village as the victims. “There are undercurrents of property dispute or illnesses in the incident. However, the motive is yet to be ascertained,” the SP said.
Police registered a case under IPC Sections 448 (house trespass), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (causing grievous hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (provocation to break public peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) as well as Sections of the Prevention of Witchcraft Act.
The police complaint by one of the women who was assaulted reads: “On September 24, at 8pm, my husband and I were abused and thrashed. We were pushed out of our homes and called dayans (witches). The attackers all ran away. However, they came to my home again on September 25 at 11 pm. This time, they beat up two of my relatives along with my husband and me. We were made to eat human excreta and our bodies were burnt with hot iron rods. An hour later the police were informed, after which we were taken to the hospital.”
The police registered an FIR based on this complaint.