RANCHI: In a shocking incident of lynching in Jharkhand, a 55-year-old woman was thrashed badly by bamboo sticks, then she was made to drink poison and was again beaten to death by the villagers on Thursday evening, allegedly for practising black magic at Ganeshpur village under Serengdag Police Station in Lohardaga.
The elderly woman, identified as Holo Devi, was then put into a sack and thrown from the Dhardharia waterfall near the village. After being informed by the family members of the woman, the police reached there and recovered the dead body from the bottom of the waterfalls. The police lodged an FIR against 27 named and over 20 unknown persons at Serengdag Police Station. Later, 24 accused were arrested. “So far, we have arrested 24 accused persons in this regard while the hunt for others is still on,” said SP Lohardaga R Ramkumar.
Family members of the deceased woman alleged that the entire matter is related to superstition as five people in the village died due to illness since January and the villagers held the woman responsible for their deaths, alleging her of practising black magic.
According to her family member Chandramani Devi, the panchayat called by the villagers at 6am continued till late in the evening. “Firstly, they made her half-dead by hitting her with kicks, punches and bamboo sticks. They then made her drink poison and again beat her to death. She was shouting for water, but the villagers did not allow us to give her water,” said Devi. After the villagers were assured that she was dead, they threw her from the top of Awaterfalls near the village, she said.