A man along with his wife was arrested for allegedly declaring his mother a witch, and starving and thrashing her, in West Bengal's Bishnupur. The victim was tortured and thrown out of her house on Sunday (June 16) night in North Gobindapur area of Bishnupur.
The woman was rescued by her neighbours, who were aware of her situation, according to local media reports. She claimed that she was regularly tortured and pressurised by her son and his wife for giving away the ancestral property. According to her, the son wanted to sell to a promoter.
"I don't want to give the property to them that is why they are torturing me. I will never give the property to them," the victim, who works as a local administrator, reportedly said.
She also alleged that the family members of her daughter-in-law, along with her son, accused her of being a witch and then thrashed her before kicking her out of her own house on Sunday. She filed a complaint against them later and the situation is being monitored by police.
The accused have denied all allegations and said that they did not throw the woman out of her home. They said that she left on her own will.
While India still doesn't have a specific and particular law that penalises witch-hunting, provisions under the Indian Penal Code 1860 (the charge for murder, an attempt for murder, hurt, rape, outraging a woman's modesty) can be invoked in such cases.
The West Bengal government was also looking to enact a law against the perpetrators of witch hunting, for protecting the victims, which suggested penal action for branding any woman a witch and committing such atrocities.
