Branded as 'witch', woman hacked to death in UP's Sonbhadra

Lucknow: In a shocking incident, a woman was hacked to death allegedly after being branded as a ‘witch’ in the remote and tribal dominated Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the reports, the victim, identified as 52-year old Rajwanti Devi, a resident of Parsoi village in the district, was attacked with sharp edged weapons on Thursday night allegedly by some other residents of the same village, who branded her as a ‘witch’ and claimed that she ‘harassed’ their families.

The accused persons also attacked Rajwanti’s husband Babulal Kharwar, who sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the district hospital.

Reports said that Babulal worked as a labourer while his wife worked in the fields. A resident of the same village -- Gulab -- and some others however claimed that Rajwanti performed occult practices and that his family was her target.

On Thursday night, Gulab, accompanied by some others, reached Babulal’s house and they had an altercation with him. Reports said that Gulab and his acquaintances carried sharp edged weapons with which they attacked Babulal and his wife.

Senior police officials rushed to the spot and the main accused Gulab was arrested, sources said.

‘’The matter, prima facie, appears to be one of old enmity owing to superstitions,’’, a senior police official said in Sonbhadra.

Police said that a case has been registered in this connection and further investigations are on.