<p>A woman in a village in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district was forced by some people to eat human excreta and drink urine after being branded a witch, police said Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Krishna Kumari Devi, in her early 30s, was first abused and beaten in Bathnaha village in Sitamarhi, about 150 km from here, on suspicion of practising witchcraft after a minor child died in the village.<br /><br />"Later, some powerful people forced me to eat human excreta and drink urine after they blamed me for the death of the child and branded me a witch," Krishna Kumari Devi said.<br /><br />Police official Rajeev Ranjan told IANS over telephone that the victim has filed a complaint in this regard. "She approached local police to seek justice and action against the accused named in the case," he said.<br /><br />He said the police have began investigation in the case.<br /><br />The practice of branding women as witches and torturing them continues unabated in remote rural areas of Bihar. The state women and child development department has proposed a stringent law against women being branded witches.<br /><br />Last year, the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) directed the state police chief to instruct the SPs of all the districts to expedite investigation/trial of pending cases relating to offences under Prevention of Witch Hunting Act 1999.</p>
<p>A woman in a village in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district was forced by some people to eat human excreta and drink urine after being branded a witch, police said Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Krishna Kumari Devi, in her early 30s, was first abused and beaten in Bathnaha village in Sitamarhi, about 150 km from here, on suspicion of practising witchcraft after a minor child died in the village.<br /><br />"Later, some powerful people forced me to eat human excreta and drink urine after they blamed me for the death of the child and branded me a witch," Krishna Kumari Devi said.<br /><br />Police official Rajeev Ranjan told IANS over telephone that the victim has filed a complaint in this regard. "She approached local police to seek justice and action against the accused named in the case," he said.<br /><br />He said the police have began investigation in the case.<br /><br />The practice of branding women as witches and torturing them continues unabated in remote rural areas of Bihar. The state women and child development department has proposed a stringent law against women being branded witches.<br /><br />Last year, the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) directed the state police chief to instruct the SPs of all the districts to expedite investigation/trial of pending cases relating to offences under Prevention of Witch Hunting Act 1999.</p>