Panchayat brands woman a witch, orders to burn her
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JAIPUR: A community panchayat in tribal area in Udaipur allegedly ordered a 40-year-old woman on fire on suspicion of her being a witch. The woman was also allegedly molested during the panchayat meeting, attended by some 50-odd people.
The woman said that she somehow managed to escape with the help of some villagers who did not participate in the meeting and reached the police station to lodge a complaint late on Sunday night.
The police rounded up 13 people on Monday, but only booked them under section 151 of CrPC for breaching peace. The cops said they are trying to gather evidence against the accused before booking them under relevant sections of the IPC. Police suspect that the woman's own relative tried to get her killed to grab her property.
According to Salumbar circle officer Vikram Singh, the incident occurred in Ghatiphala village near Sarda town in the district on Saturday evening.
The woman lives in the village with her husband. "The families of her husband's two brothers live in adjoining houses. The two brothers had died a few years ago. Their widows and sons had a property dispute with the victim," said Singh.
The officer said that as per the FIR registered with the police, a panchayat meeting was held in the village in the evening. "Around 50 people attended the meeting. Kamla says that widows of her brothers-in-law started branding her a witch saying their husbands died as she was casting evil spells. The panchayat then blamed some other bad things that had occurred in the village on the woman," said the officer.
The panchayat members concluded that she was a witch and ordered a man identified as Kabir Meena to set her on fire, the officer said adding that some members molested her as well.
"The woman said that the man brought a kerosene can and attempted to pour the fuel on her body. However, a few villagers who were not part of the meeting managed to rescue the woman and escape. The victim reached the police station around 9.30pm and narrated the incident. We have registered an FIR under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 354 (outrage modesty with assault) and 307 of IPC," said the officer.
He added that 13 of the accused identified in the FIR, including the widows of Kamla's brothers-in-law and their sons have been rounded up.
"To make the case strong against the accused, we have booked the accused under preventive sections of the law. The sections will be changed to relevant ones after a thorough investigation. Police is searching for 25 people who are on the run after the incident," said the officer.
Jaipur: A community panchayat in an Udaipur's tribal area allegedly ordered to set a 40-year old woman on fire and kill her on suspicion that she was a witch and casting evil spells on her family members and villagers. The woman was allegedly molested during the panchayat meeting attended by over 40 people.
The woman said that she somehow managed to escape with help of some villagers who were not participating in the meeting, but witnessing it and reached the police station to lodge a complaint late on Sunday night.
The police rounded up 13 people on Monday, however, booked them under section 151 of CrPC for breaching peace. The cops said that they are trying to gather evidence against the accused persons before booking them under relevant sections of the IPC. Police suspect that the woman's own relative tried to get her killed to grab her property.
According to Salumbar circle officer Vikram Singh, the incident occurred in Ghatiphala village near Sarda town in the district on Saturday evening.
The woman, Kamla Devi Meena lives in the village with her husband Shankar Lal. "The families of her husband's two brothers live in an adjoining houses. The two brothers had died of ailments a few years ago. Their widows and sons had a property dispute with Kamla Devi," said Singh.
The officer said that as per the FIR registered with the police, a meeting of community panchayat was held in the village in the evening.
"About 50 people attended the meeting. Kamla says that widows of her brothers-in-law started branding her a witch saying that their husbands died as she was casting evil spells. The panchayat blamed some other bad things that occurred in the village in the recent past on the woman," said the officer.
The panchayat members concluded that she was a witch and ordered a man identified as Kabir Meena to set her on fire, the officer said adding that some members molested her also.
"Kamla says that the man brought a kerosene cane and attempted to pour the oil on her body. However, a few villagers who were not part of the meeting, but witnessing intervened and somehow managed to get out of the place with the woman. Kamla reached the police station around 9.30 pm and narrated the incident. We have registered an FIR under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 354 (outrage modesty with assault) and 307 of IPC," said the officer.
The officer added that 13 of the accused identified in the FIR including the widows of Kamla's brothers-in-law and their sons have been rounded up.
"To make the case strong against the accused, we have booked the accused under preventive sections of the law. The sections will be changed to relevant ones after the through investigation. About 25 people who are on the run after the incident are being searched," said the officer.
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