Jajpur: Two women, including a priestess, were arrested in Odisha’s Jajpur district for allegedly beating up two girls with canes to remove “black magic spell” on one of them, police said Wednesday.
The two girls – the victim and the other who tried to rescue her – were injured and hospitalised.
The incident took place in Panturi village Tuesday, a senior officer said.
The teenage daughter of a person in the village fell sick and underwent treatment at a local hospital last week. Her family later brought her home, claiming that her condition at the facility showed no signs of improvement.
The family then consulted a local priestess of the Tarini temple in the village, who reportedly attributed her illness to sorcery.
The priestess, identified as Gedi Dehury(45), advised the girl’s family to bring her to the Tarini temple to worship the goddess to treat her, and the girl’s family did as asked.
Dehury and her aide, identified as Tulasi Mahakud (26), beat her up with a cane to free her from the black magic spell.
The girl screamed in pain and started running on the village road, as the two women continued to beat her in full public view.
When another girl came to rescue the victim, she was also allegedly beaten by the priest and her aide.
Locals then rescued the two girls and informed the police about the incident.
Jenapur police reached the village, took the priest and her aide to the police station and sent the injured girls to the Dharmasala Community Health Centre for treatment.
A complaint has been filed with police in connection with the incident, and further investigation is on, Jajpur SP Yash Pratap Shrimal said.
PTI
