Guwahati, May 9: In a suspected case of witch- hunting, a 45-year-old tribal woman was killed by miscreants under Gossaigaon police station in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Monday.
The deceased woman has been identified as Anjali Murmu, resident of Mohanpur village under Gossaigaon police station of Kokrajhar district.
According to police, the body of the woman was found hanging on a tree on Monday morning. “We sent the body for post mortem. We suspect that the woman was killed and after that her body was hanged on a tree,” said a police official.
Meanwhile, police have arrested three persons in connection with the murder of the woman. They have been identified as Sunil Murdi (16), Sapna Hembram (16) and Prabinson Kisku (30) of Mohanpur village.
“We have arrested three of them in connection with the murder of the woman. We are searching another person who was also involved in the murder. We have identified the person as Chaikal Hembram,” the official said.
Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015, passed in Assam Assembly, views witch-hunting as a cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable offence. It was passed by Assam Assembly in 2015 with provisions of jail term up to life imprisonment.
“After having such a stringent law against witch-hunting, still witch-hunting has been prevalent in the BTC region of Assam. Every year innocent people are killed in witch-hunting in Assam,” said a social activist.
The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act says no person shall identify, call, stigmatise, defame, accuse any other person as witch by words, signs, indications, conduct, action or any other manner or instigate, aid or abet such an act or commit witch-hunting.
