A woman in Bahbari village of Assam’s Sonitpur district has been killed allegedly on the suspicion of being a witch. Six people have been arrested for the murder of the woman. The arrested have been identified as Ajay Sanghar, Pinku Malhar, Suraj Baghuwar, Dhiraj Baghuwar, Babul Nagdhar and Baila Sanghar.
An official close to the investigation, speaking to media said, “Right now we cannot exactly say what was the cause of the murder, after getting information we reached the spot in the morning, the body is in the TMCH morgue, as per information the woman was burnt alive but since I have not seen the body till now I cannot confirm that.”
Assam has a dark history in regards to witch-hunting. According to Assam government the amount of witch-hunting cases in the state from 2011 to 2019 amounted to 107, in response to this,The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act was passed in 2018.