A middle-aged Dalit woman was allegedly thrashed and burnt alive in her house on Saturday at Panchmah village, Gaya district, Bihar. The deceased – Hemanti Devi – was murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft.
According to police, Devi had a dispute with a family who had recently lost a member named Parmeshwar Manjhi. The family blamed Devi for the death alleging witchcraft.
On November 5, a meeting was called by the panchayat to resolve the issue. Parmeshwar’s family, in turn, brought a sorcerer from Jharkhand to put pressure on Devi so that she could confess to her alleged crimes.
However, nothing fruitful came out. On the same day in the afternoon, Devi’s house was surrounded by more than 100 angry villagers who assaulted her, dragged her from her terrace, closed the main gate and set the house on fire.
Terrified, Devi’s husband Arjun Das and son Amit Kumar ran to the police station for help.
However, by the time they arrived, Devi died.
This story was originally published in siasat.com . Read the full story here