Women branded ‘witches’, paraded half-naked in Bihar village

As the country enters the third phase of Covid-19 pandemic, an entire village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district congregated to witness three women being thrashed, tonsured and paraded half-naked for “being witches.” The incident, which took place in Muzaffarpur’s Dakrama village on 4 May, was recorded on video and shared widely. The entire village watched as these women begged for mercy and were made to consume human faeces and urine afterwards which they were tonsured, beaten up and paraded half-naked through the village. The heinous face of this medieval-style witch-hunting was revealed on a social media video which has garnered many views and attention from authorities.

The ASP of the area, Amitesh Kumar, informed that no one approached the police to file a case but has informed that nine people have been arrested for this crime. A case has been lodged against 10 people with names and against 20 unknown individuals. Raids are on to nab those involved in the crime. The DGP of the state, Gupteshwar Pandey, while talking to the media, said that the incident is being investigated and the guilty won’t be spared. According to sources, this entire act was carried out at the behest of the village panchayat which had also threatened these women with dire consequences if they approached the police. The women have since then fled the village.