Woman thrown into well for ‘practising’ witchcraft
A 65-year-old woman, who was accused of practising witchcraft, was thrashed and then thrown into a well by members of a family in Uttar Pradesh’s tribal and Naxal-affected Sonbhadra district, about 450 km from here.
The woman, identified as Kaushalya Devi was fished out of the well by the villagers but she had died by then, police sources here said. According to reports, some people, all members of a family, suspected that Kaushalya Devi practised “withcraft.” They also suspected that she was behind the death of a little girl in the village a few days back.
On Saturday evening, one Dallu, his wife and another person allegedly caught hold of Kaushalya Devi and started thrashing her with lathis (sticks) and bricks. They later threw a profusely bleeding Kaushalya Devi into the village well.
Kaushalya Devi’s grandson, who was there, shouted for help following which some labourers working in the nearby fields reached there. A police team was immediately rushed to the spot, who arrested three people, including the two main accused.
