An 85-year-old woman has alleged that a group of Bihara villagers in Rajathan's Bhilwara district tortured her with hot tongs and paraded her naked in the village after branding her as a witch on Sunday.
"The woman, Chau Bai, met additional superintendent of police of the area on Monday and told him about the incident. Police have launched an investigation into it," a police official told IANS on Tuesday.
The elderly woman alleged in her complaint that a group of 14-16 villagers burnt her with searing hot tongs and beaten up with iron chains. "I was beaten with iron chains," she said.
Bai was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Bhilwara. She claimed that the villagers tortured her to seize her property and throw her out of the village.
"On Sunday some villagers brought a witch doctor. They (the villagers) dragged me forcibly by my hair to my veranda (porch). The witch doctor poured a liquor like substance on my body. I was beaten up and stripped naked and later they threw me into a nali (drain)," Bai said.
The villagers who allegedly branded Bai as a witch and tortured her could face more than three years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.50,000 or both, under the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2015.
In the last three days, three cases have surfaced in Bhilwara where women were attacked after being branded as witches.
