Woman assaulted for practising ‘witchcraft’

An elderly woman was branded as a ‘witch’ and subjected to torture by some strongmen in Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s home district Nalanda, police said. The incident took place on Friday at Gobindpur village when some miscreants cut the woman’s hair, painted her face black and beat her up using canes, for allegedly practising “witchcraft”, a local police officer said.

A source said the woman tried to run away to save herself from the beatings during which some of her clothes were also torn. “While the village people did not come to her rescue when the goons attacked her, they later gave her some clothes to cover herself,” he added. Police later assisted the woman in getting medical attention at the local hospital.

The police have lodged a case in this matter and arrested one Ajay Yadav in this regard, who has confessed to his crime.