Orissa woman lynched as ‘witch’, 10 held

BHUBANESWAR - A 65-year-old woman was beaten to death in Orissa’s Jharsuguda district for allegedly practising witchcraft, police said, adding that 10 people were detained in the case Monday.

Gangi Munda was killed in Naxapali village, about 25 km from Jharsuguda district headquarters, late Saturday by some in the presence of other villagers.

“We have detained 10 suspects for questioning. We will arrest them after further investigation,” police inspector C.M. Pradhan told IANS.

According to police, a two-month-old baby of the village died of bronchopneumonia — an illness of lung — after being treated at a nearby government hospital Saturday.

The baby’s parents, relatives and some villagers blamed Munda for the death and accused her of bringing miseries to the area by practicing witchcraft.

“The villagers then dragged her out of her home and beat her to death,” another police official said.

According to the 2001 census, Jharsuguda district, 374 km from here, has a population of 514,853 and 31.55 percent of them are tribals. Many illiterate villagers are superstitious and believe that witchcraft is behind their illness.