RANCHI: A 70-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her son on suspicion of practising witchcraft. The incident occurred on Tuesday at Digha village under Gopikandar police station in Dumka.
She was taken to Phulo Jhano Medical College and Hospital with multiple stab wounds and succumbed to her injuries late on Sunday night.
The accused, identified as 41-year-old Ramjan Hembrom, was arrested by police from his native village, Madhuban. The weapon used in the crime and his blood-stained clothes were also recovered.
Police said the victim had been staying at her daughter’s in-laws’ house in Digha, located about 15 km away from her village, for the past few months to escape repeated assaults by her son.
Officer in-charge of Gopikandar Police Station, Sumit Bhagat, said that a case has been registered.
The victim’s daughter, in her statement given to police, has confirmed that her brother, Ramjan Hembram, was responsible for the attack.
According to police, preliminary investigations revealed that Ramjan suspected his mother of using black magic to kill his teenage daughter.
Villagers informed that the accused lost his 18-year-old daughter a few months ago due to illness.
“While she was ill, she often used to say that her grandmother was the cause of her illness, claiming she had practiced black magic on her. After a prolonged illness, his daughter died, but Ramjan harbored a suspicion that her mother had killed his daughter through witchcraft,” said a villager requesting anonymity.
Hearing this, he attacked his mother several times with deadly weapons but somehow, she survived, they said.
On the day of the incident, Ramjan came home drunk, and started blaming her mother for his daughter’s death.
“Holding his mother responsible for the death of his daughter, he went to his sister’s in-laws’ place and attacked his mother with a knife in a fit of rage. She was stabbed multiple times on her body, following which, she was taken to the hospital in an injured condition and died during treatment on Sunday,” police said.
