Woman Beheaded In India For Being A Witch

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A 63 year old mother of five from Assam Province in India was murdered by a rival tribe accused of being a witch.

Moni Orang was dragged out of her home in Guwahati, stripped naked, beheaded, and had her limbs chopped off by a gang of machete-wielding villagers in the north-eastern state of Assam.

New Indian Express reports:

The incident was reported from No 1 Bhimajuli village in Biswanath Chariali district on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

Victim Poni Urang, a mother of five, who belonged to the adivasi tribe (also known as the tea tribe), was beheaded by a group of men belonging to the Karbi community.

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The police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident.

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“A group of people, who forced their way into Poni’s house around noon, dragged her out to a river and beheaded her with a machete,” a senior police officer told Express.

The police said the woman was targeted after a village quack Anima Ronghangpi branded Poni as a witch.

Witches — No 1 Bhimajuli village, Biswanath Chariali district

She told the locals that Poni was the reason for the recent deaths and diseases in the village.

She claimed that Poni had been practising witchcraft.

According to police, they are searching for Ronghangpi who is absconding after the incident.

“The situation was very tense earlier in the day(Monday), but now it is under control. As it was between two communities, we are not taking any chances. We have deployed adequate number of security personnel in the village to prevent any untoward incident. They will keep vigil round the clock,” SP Manabendra Roy said.

Witch-hunting, a social malaise, is common in Assam, especially in the Bodo and adivasi-dominated areas.

According to official records, witch-hunting claimed the lives of as many as 132 people, mostly women and children, in the state between 2002 and 2012.

There were several other cases, mostly of torture, which went unreported. Illiteracy is often blamed for the untoward incidents. The killings have continued unabated despite a series of awareness campaigns conducted by the police and various social organisations.