The SP of Sundergarh district of Odisha has admitted before the NHRC that a tribal senior citizen and three women were forced to walk nude in a procession to all the nearby hamlets of Kiralaga, a village under Talsara police station.The SP submitted his report after the NHRC issued notice to the DGP on a petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy in this regard.
On February 11, the three women along with a male member of the family were forced to march naked on suspicion of practicing witchcraft. As per the report, the witch doctor in the village claimed that there were evil spirits in the village and the witchcraft practiced by some villagers was responsible for the death and some incidents in the villages.
Accordingly, a meeting was convened by the villagers wherein the witch doctor declared Patras Dung Dung, 60, his wife Christina Dung Dung, 55, relatives Philmina Dung Dung, 50 and Balmodiza Soreng, 45, of the village as responsible for the death of the villagers and other incidents.
The witch doctor and his associates assaulted all the victims, disrobed them and made them walk nude in a procession to all the nearby villages, the report said.
The report added that village head Christina Kerketta who was also present at the meeting did not take any steps to inform the police nor tried to prevent such illegal activities.