Odisha’s Sundergarh district where the crime took place. (Source: Google Maps) Odisha’s Sundergarh district where the crime took place. (Source: Google Maps)

Police in Odisha’s Sundergarh district Tuesday shared details of a gruesome murder of a tribal woman and her four children last week on suspicions of witchcraft and sorcery.

“A 30-year-old woman from Indupur village and her four children were killed by a group of men last week. Their bodies were dumped in a well near the house. Six persons have been arrested,” said Koida Police Station Inspector Sushant Das.

In Odisha, a few tribal communities in the remote areas still believe in sorcery and black magic. As per National Crime Records Bureau 2016 (NCRB), Odisha accounted for the second highest number of deaths (24) in the country due to witchcraft, after Jharkhand. These killings mostly target women and involve physical torture. Women, who are suspected of sorcery, are also made to ingest inedible and obnoxious substances, paraded naked, exiled and branded with hot irons.

The state’s Prevention of Witch Hunting Act (2013) states all offences under it are cognisable and non-bailable. Despite the legal protection, superstitions have led to some horrific crimes in Odisha.

Melta Sabara (23) and her two brothers are the survivors of the infamous Rayagada sorcery killings that shook the state in 2016. In 2017, a college student was killed in Jharsuguda district when two girls attempted to cure her ill health through physical torture masked as sorcery.

Koida police told The Indian Express that in the Sundergarh case, one of the accused, Debra Munda, admitted to murder, saying he was instigated by the local witch doctor to kill the woman. The witch doctor had blamed the woman’s ‘sorcery’ for the death of Debra’s daughter a few weeks earlier.

“Debra confessed he had threatened the woman after his daughter’s death. A few days ago, his second daughter fell ill and the witch doctor warned the sorceress may kill her too. He was enraged and entered the woman’s house at night with four male relatives. They killed the woman and her children and hid the bodies,” Das said.

Six people, including the witch doctor, were arrested Monday under Sections 458 (house breaking), 302 (murder), 201 (concealing evidence), 34 (criminal act by several persons) of the IPC as well as provisions under the Odisha Prevention of Witch Hunting Act (2013).

According to police, the woman’s husband, Sudama Munda, worked as a truck driver and took long trips outside his village. He returned home last week to find his wife and four children missing. Sudama lodged a police complaint, but an initial investigation could not find the missing family members.

“We immediately suspected foul play. The house had been ransacked and broken bangles and blood stains signaled a struggle had taken place. The bodies were finally traced to a nearby well after police brought in a dog squad for assistance,” said Das.

Police removed the slab covering the well and spotted the woman’s dead body floating. Then they also recovered the body of the eldest child, a girl aged 12.

The 40-feet deep well had water up to 22 feet. To recover the remaining bodies, police had to seek help from the local fire services unit. Pumps were brought in to drain the well dry. The bodies of the other two boys and a girl, aged seven, four and 10 months respectively, were recovered.

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