Five Women in India Accused of Being Witches, Paraded Naked in the Streets
Police reported today that in the state of Jharkhand in central India, five women were accused by witch doctors of being witches who brought calamity to their villages and spread disease. As hundreds of villagers watched, these women were stripped naked and paraded through the streets.
According to police, in the Deoghar region, about 350 kilometers from the state capital Ranchi, under the direction of a witch doctor, villagers forcibly stripped five women from their village who were accused of being witches. They were then tied up and paraded through the streets. Two of them were even forced to eat feces until they admitted to being witches.
The police arrived at the scene, but the main perpetrators had already fled without a trace. The police stated that based on testimony from some witnesses, they would pursue eleven individuals involved, including six women. The police said there were between 500 to 700 onlookers.
Jharkhand, a state plagued by rampant Naxalite guerrillas and bandits, is one of the most backward regions among all 28 states in India. Incidents involving harm to "witches" or "wizards" are frequent. According to local government statistics, more than 700 people have died due to such incidents, mostly women.
Similar events also frequently occur in other impoverished provinces like West Bengal. Years ago, in Darjeeling, a major Indian tea-producing area in northern West Bengal, five female plantation workers were accused by a witch doctor of being witches. Villagers hammered nails into their heads, put them in burlap bags, and threw them into the river to drown.
However, the witch doctors who instigate such killings often escape legal punishment. Officials stated that due to the ignorance and superstition of the villagers, they prefer to seek treatment from witch doctors when sick rather than modern medicine. Witch doctors are seen as spiritual leaders, so the villagers dare not rebel against them and are unwilling to testify against the witch doctors for fear of retaliation.
Officials noted that in remote rural areas, due to the widespread presence of venomous snakes and insects and the lack of medical facilities, when witch doctors find themselves unable to cure patients, they often blame innocent victims, accusing them of using "magic" to spread diseases and bring calamity to the village in order to cover up their own incompetence.