Four people have been detained in connection with the death of a 39-year-old woman In Rajasthan’s Ajmer district. The victim who was a relative of the accused was allegedly tortured and forced to eat her faeces after being branded as a witch and was eventually beaten to death.
According to the police, the incident took place on August 3 in Kekri, a block of Ajmer district, around 135 km from the state capital. The victim has been identified as Kanya Devi Raigar.
"Raigar was branded a witch and severely tortured before being beaten to death, she was also made to eat faeces by her relatives," Superintendent of Police (SP) of Ajmer, Rajendra Singh, said. Singh confirmed that case has been registered against four of her relatives, Pinky Raigar, Sonia Raigar, Mahaveer Raigar and Chandra Prakash Raigar.
"Four people have been detained and a case has been registered under the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch- Hunting Act, 2015 and relevant sections of IPC "Shankar, sub inspector of Kekri police station told DH. According to the police, the victim reportedly succumbed to her injuries and died on the spot.
On claims that the relatives had pierced her eyes with a hot rod, Singh said the body was cremated by the relatives and no post mortem could be conducted, "so it is proving difficult to ascertain these claims".
The police said a distant relative of the victim registered a police complaint on August 11. But they police the FIR on August 13 after her daughter also registered a complaint.
"I had received the complaint on August 10 from a relative, but we could not file an FIR as the complainant was not a close relative of the deceased," SHO at the Kekri Police Station Hari Ram Kumawat told PTI.
"Thorough interrogation of the accused will reveal what transpired that day," he said, adding that three persons have been detained and will be arrested soon.
Published 13 August 2017, 13:49 IST