Patna, Aug 1 (IANS) A 65-year-old woman was branded a witch and lynched in a Bihar village Wednesday, police said.
Payari Devi, a Dalit, was beaten to death in Jehanabad district’s Shevenan village, about 50 km from here, police said.
People turned on her after the death of a man called Ashok Manjhi. Four people have been arrested.
The practice of branding women as witches and torturing them – often to death – continues unabated in remote rural areas of Bihar. A month ago, a woman in Sitamarhi district was forced by some people to eat human excreta after they branded her a witch.
Last year, the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) directed the state government to expedite the probe and trial in cases related to offences under the Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 1999.
