Sundargarh/Bargaon: In a shocking case of blind-faith, two alleged sorcerers brutally whipped a woman for nearly five hours at Litipada village under Bargaon block in Sundargarh district Friday evening, seriously injuring her.
The victim was identified as Sangita Bage, wife of Muna Bage.
Sources said that a youth in Litipada village was mentally unstable, for which his family members sought the help of a sorcerer named Gagan from Machamara village for a cure. The sorcerer explained to the family members that evil spirits, or some planetary influences, were causing his ailment.
On Friday evening, Gagan and his associate visited the house of Asha Bage in Litipada to perform the rituals. During the rituals, at around 8 pm, the sorcerers suddenly began whipping Sangita, who had come to witness the proceedings.
Later, at 10 pm, they allegedly barged into her house and ransacked the puja room. The assault on the woman continued intermittently till late at night.
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The sorcerers allegedly ignored Muna’s pleas to stop the beatings. Though no formal police complaint was lodged in connection with the incident at the time of filing the report, the incident sparked tension in the village.
To combat such atrocities by sorcerers on indigenous tribal communities, social activist Shashiprabha Bindhani had filed a public interest petition, prompting the state government to enact a dedicated law in 2013 that criminalised these practices.
However, despite legal measures, no significant awareness campaigns have been conducted to educate the public, social activist Subhashree Ray said.
PNN
