7 villagers sentenced to death for killing 3 women suspecting them as witches

Eight people including two women were held guilty on charges of lynching three women at Daspur in October 2012. 

On Monday, all the eight convicts were produced before the court amidst tight security. The convicts who were sentenced to death include Mangal Singh, Sunny Mandi, Samay Mandi, Nura Singh, Vaku Singh, Rabiyan Singh and a woman Kali Singh. 

Another woman was sentenced to imprisonment for seven years. The convicts were held guilty on charges of killing the women and tampering of evidence. 

The police said 14 of them were arrested in this connection. Eight of them were held guilty while the rest were acquitted for lack of evidence. 

It may be recalled that three women Fulmoni Singh (62), her daughter Sambari Singh (40) and Samari Singh (55) were identified as witches by a kangaroo court in Dubrajpur village in October 2012. 

Everyone had started considering them as witches following outbreak of an unknown disease at the village. 

The victims’ husbands and other family members had protested against the decision of the kangaroo court. They were forced to leave the village and some villagers had started beating up all the three women. They were lynched and their bodies were buried in the bank of the river.

 

Policemen from local police station rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies after the victims’ husbands had approached them. The police had conducted repeated raids at the village and picked up 14 people on charges of killing the three women. 

The victims’ family members on Monday said that they were thankful to the police for proper investigation into the matter and they expect that no one will be killed on mere suspicion of being witches after the court’s order.