Quack lynched, buried in forest over sorcery charge
BERHAMPUR: In the second sorcery-related murder in less than a week, a 30-year-old man was lynched to death before being buried in a forest under Mohana police limits of Gajapati district.
The matter came to light on Thursday after police located the site and exhumed the body of the victim, identified as Karunakar Dalai. Karunakar who earned his livelihood as a quack belonged to Kusumpur village.
Preliminary investigation suggests that Karunakar was captured, held hostage for several days during which he was tortured under suspicion of witchcraft. After his murder, his body was buried but the matter came to fore when the family failed to trace the 30-year-old man and lodged a complaint with police.
Police said, Sabita Dalai, the victim’s sister-in-law, lodged a complaint on Wednesday stating that on July 28, Karunakar was called by two villagers but he never returned home. Later, when she enquired, villagers avoided the topic but one of them let out the fact that he was captured and beaten up mercilessly.
Basing on the complaint, police began investigation and apprehended some villagers, and gathered that the body was buried in a hilly forest near Kusumpur. On the day, police located the burial place after a search and retrieved the body.
Police investigation revealed that Karunakar was called by two persons on the pretext of prescribing medicine. Since the 30-year-old treated patients with roots and herbs, he went with the two unaware of their evil design. Soon he was taken to the anganwadi centre in the village where some more villagers were lying in wait. They brutally assaulted Karunakar accusing him of practising sorcery.
Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said Karunakar had prescribed herbs about 20 days back to a 12-year-old boy of the village who was bitten by a dog.
However, the boy died two day later and the villagers suspected the death was caused by witchcraft. After that incident, some other kids too showed abnormal behaviour which made the villagers believe that Karunakar was behind it. A plan was laid and Karunakar walked into the trap.
Though villagers knew about the incident, they did not reveal it to anyone, said SP Panda adding, eight persons have been rounded up and are currently being interrogated.
The incident comes days after a 35-year-old man was brutally killed in Malaspadar village and his mutilated body with genitals chopped off was recovered from Harabhangi Dam. Police later arrested 14 persons in connection with the murder.