Miscreants killed a woman accusing her of taking lives of some natives of their village by practicing witch craft in a village near India-Bhutan border in Chirang district on Tuesday night.
Bamwnti Basumatary, 43, a mother of 5, was asleep in her residence at Molandubi in Santipur area under Runikhata police station, when a group of miscreants had berged into her residence and killed her on the spot with matchets after dragging her out.
“The miscreants had believed that my wife had killed few of their village folk by the spell of her witch craft and for which they killed my wife,” said Kokreng Basumatary, victim’s husband.
According to Kokreng his wife was not a “witch” and did not harm anybody, she was running a small tea shop in the locality of Molandubi to support the family.
On Tuesday morning after the victim’s family had lodged FIR at Runikhata police station, police had reached the spot at Molandubi village, which is 20 km from the police station and recovered Bamwnti’s body before sending it for autopsy at Kajalgaon which is 38 km from the village.
Victim’s son Sanjay, 15, had identified some of the miscreants and told their names before the media during the autopsy of his mother’s body this noon at Kajalgaon Civil Hospital.
“A murder case which was reported today has been registered and culprits involved in it will be booked soon,” said Chirang District Superintendent of Police Yuvraj.
Chirang district unit of All Bodo Student’s Union (ABSU) has condemned the incident and demanded judicial probe into the incident.
“We also call the government to conduct awareness campaign soon in such backward rural pockets on the laws which prevent the witch hunting and demand adequate compensation to the victim’s family,” ABSU’s Chirang district unit president Khanindra Basumatary said.