ROURKELA: A self-proclaimed ‘witch doctor’, his wife and three others were arrested for allegedly flogging a woman to drive away evil spirits from her body in Sundargarh district, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place in the remote Litipada hamlet, around 500 metre from Bargaon police station on February 28.
Police said prime accused Monglu Toppo (41) of Machamada village claimed to be an ‘Ojha’ (traditional healer) and his wife Bimla used to assist him in his acts. On February 28, Asha Bage of Litipada invited Monglu to perform some rituals at her house to cure her mentally-challenged son. Other villagers, including the victim, Sangita Bage (30) attended the rituals which continued for about five hours.
Bargaon IIC Ashish Jena said Asha believed that her son was mentally-challenged and called the accused to help cure her son. The ‘Ojha’ performed some rituals for a few hours and subsequently accused the victim of practising witchcraft and held her responsible for the suffering of Asha’s son.
In the night, the witch doctor helped by his wife, Asha, Anita Barla and Budhua Bage, flogged the victim with a whip multiple times to drive away the evil powers possessed by her. Asha, Anita and Budhua also raided Sangita’s house and damaged her worship place in anger. The illiterate and gullible villagers were so deeply rooted in their superstitious beliefs in the ‘Ojha’ that they saw nothing wrong in attacking the woman, said police.
After the incident, the victim remained silent for two days. After police got information about the incident, Sangita’s family was assured of action and on persuasion, a written complaint was filed on March 3.
The IIC said the accused persons were booked under different sections of BNS and Odisha Prevention of Witchcraft Act. They were arrested and produced in court on Tuesday.