Witchhunt claims 2 lives in Godda

As per the FIR filed by Vahamay’s husband Parchana Tuddu, 45, trouble began after Anant Tuddu, 45, a resident of Mahuwasol, was admitted at Godda Hospital for fever, headache and dysentery last month. Anant’s nine-year-old daughter, Sukni, told villagers that she dreamt that her father’s ‘‘kalegi’’ (heart) was being eaten by Vahamay and Somri, the FIR adds. She is also learnt to have told them that the two had conveyed to her their resolve to eat her father’s heart.

Acting on Sukni’s statement, the villagers convened a panchayat meeting on Tuesday which was attended by 250-odd villagers. Vahamay and Somri were reportedly pulled out of their homes and produced before the panchayat, where Murli Soren and Mahadeo Tuddu, acting as the ‘‘panch’’, pronounced them witches. As a group of around 60 villagers beat the duo, others applauded and danced till the two died and their bodies were consigned to flames, states the FIR.

When the police arrived at Mahuwasol on Wednesday, the village was deserted. ‘‘There was hardly a soul around. We managed to trace Parchana Tuddu who was still in the grip of fear. After a lot of persuasion, he agreed to lodge the FIR,’’ said Godda Deputy Superintendent of Police Naushad Alam. Asked if the motive behind the killing was greed for land, Alam said, ‘‘No’’. While Parchana now owns the 3-4 acres of land that was in his wife’s name, Somri was a widow and ‘‘her sons Mohan and Sohan have inherited her property,’’ The Deputy SP said. ‘‘These people are illiterate and superstitious. Which is why they committed the gruesome crime,’’ he added.