Kaptipada Police in Mayurbhanj district on Thursday arrested a person on charges of killing a 40- year-old woman suspecting her to be a witch. The accused Baju Singh of Jamabani has been remanded in judicial custody.
Police sources said Baju had killed Sumi Singh with an axe while she was working in the paddy field. He has confessed to his crime and the weapon used in the crime has been seized.
Kaptipada police station IIC Manoranjan Samal said Baju’s elder brother Beera Singh had died two years ago after suffering from fever for a long time and recently the latter’s son also took ill along with Baju’s wife.
“Baju said he was tensed as both his nephew and wife were not recovering despite treatment and he suspected it to be an act of witchcraft. He saw a goat lying dead close to the paddy field where Sumi was working. He thought she had killed the goat for performing witchcraft. Suspecting her behind his wife’s illness, he attacked with the axe and killed her on the spot,” Samal said.
A scientific team from Baripada visited the spot and collected samples for tests, he added.