While on one side you have many people from around the world celebrating Halloween, on the other side you have our Indians who are killing women because they believe that they are practicing witchcraft. *Facepalm*. Don’t believe me? Just take this incident that took place in Odisha where a 55-year-old woman was allegedly beaten to death after she approached the police to complain about the attack on her husband on the suspicion of practicing witchcraft. Not kidding you, these superstitions are going to lead us toward doom.
On Thursday, police officials said that a 55-year-old woman, Jhunu Nahak of Madhupalli village in the Ganjam district of Odisha was allegedly beaten to death by villagers on Wednesday night. The reason for attacking her was that nine hours ago she had approached the police when people attacked her husband, Judhisthir Nahak, on the suspicion of practicing witchcraft.
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As per the reports, Vivek Saravana, Ganjam superintendent of police (SP), said, “Judhisthir was assaulted by villagers over suspicions that they practiced witchcraft. He was admitted to the local hospital. When his two sons returned home from the hospital, they found their mother dead… The woman’s body had several assault marks, suggesting she was beaten to death by the villagers who were angry at her for approaching the cops.”
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He added that a total of 33 people – including 20 women – were arrested under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The sad truth is that this is not the first cast to have been reported. Many instances of murders and assaults over suspicion of practicing witchcraft have been reported from all over the country. And this is despite the measures taken by the government to curb such cases.
It really is the blind belief of people in the existence of witchcraft that has given birth to so many incidents. It is really sad that even in the 21st century people are readily believing in this superstition and even act on it. Honestly, this is absolutely ridiculous – I’m not saying don’t believe in what you think is right but don’t hurt anyone because of those beliefs.