5 women group lynched in midnight ‘#witch #hunt’ by Indian village

9 August, 2015, Bihar

Five women, branded as witches, were stripped and lynched in a village assembly at Kanjiya Maraitoli village in Jharkhand. The women were all in their 50s. Police identified the men involved and arrested 27 of them. Many of the arrested are students of Mandar College.
Many women, particularly widows, are usually killed over family disputes and land grabs on the pretext of ‘witch hunts.’ The villagers are defiant and have threatened to lynch three more women.

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/ranchi/5-Jharkhand-women-lynched-in-midnight-witch-hunt/articleshow/48406526.cms

63 year old woman beheaded in a #witch hunt by a mob in Assam

20 July 2015, Assam
In a mob led witch-hunt, 63 year-old Poni Orang was stripped naked and beheaded. About 200 participated in the open lynching. Only 7 have been arrested. Orang is of a tribal community and is survived by 5 children. Most witch lynchings are an attempt to usurp property, and single, widowed, elderly, minority women are most vulnerable.

http://m.ndtv.com/india-news/women-labelled-witch-beheaded-by-mob-in-assam-village-783453

Woman accused of #witchcraft axed to death by 7 men in Gujarat

10June,2015 Gujarat

50 year old Kapuriben Rathwa, a widow was axed to death by 7 men at Khandwaniya village on the night of June 5 after accused her of practising black magic.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/gujarat/woman-killed-for-practicing-witchcraft-in-gujarat-seven-held_1611043.html

Tribal woman in #India gang #raped after being accused of #witchcraft

31May, 2015, Madhya Pradesh

A tribal woman has been brutally gang-raped by six men who accused her of practising witchcraft.The 35-year-old woman has been admitted to hospital and is receiving treatment for her injuries. All the six accused have been arrested, police said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32959841

Woman in Gaya branded #witch, paraded with tonsured head

13 March 2015, Bihar

A mob of villagers branded a village woman as witch, got her head tonsured and paraded her in the Afzalpur village. The woman’s tormentors included her relatives.

The victim, Kalawati Devi was a faith healer for the last several years and the villagers blamed the death of a 3 year old boy on her. The police have arrested some of the men involved.

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/patna/Woman-branded-witch-paraded-with-tonsured-head/articleshow/46554593.cms

60-yr-old #Tribal woman shot dead in ‘#witch hunt’ in Tripura, India

17 March 2015, Tripura

60-year old Kanyapati Debbarma of Duraishamrai ADC village, about 20 km from Kamalpur, was killed by her relatives, who barged into her house and shot her in the head with a rifle at close range as she cooked her evening meal. They accused her of being a witch. Over the last few years about 50 women have been killed in such “witch hunts” in Tripura alone.

http://m.bdnews24.com/en/detail/neighbour_en/940618

Study on the Trauma Suffered by Women Survivors of ” #Witch Hunts” in #India

January 2015, Assam

A study on survivors of “witch-hunts” shows that these women face not only psychological, sexual and physical violence but also economic abuse like being stripped of land, house, livestock, farms, and shops and denied access to jobs and public resources.

They face brutal physical violence, such as being attacked with bamboo sticks and daggers, yanked by the hair, slapped, punched and beaten up after being tied to a pillar. “There were instances where the victim was made to undergo agonising ‘tests’ like sitting on stool of thorny wood, holding iron balls or chewing betel nuts to prove they were not witches.”  In one case, the deceased victim, and her daughter  were raped by a group of seven men, had rods inserted in their private parts following which they were burnt by acid,” the report said. In four cases, the women were murdered.

The study also establishes that branding women as “witches” was “a tool to settle scores owing to personal enmity, jealousy or to grab property.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141224/jsp/northeast/story_5064.jsp#.VKgKWcn_AdU

210 women murdered & 1500 tortured as ‘#witches’ in Chhattisgarh, many await justice – The Times of India

In just one state of India, that of Chattisgarh, there have been at least 1500 known cases of women being publicly tortured by villagers as witches. At least 210 were murdered. However the actual number of cases are unknown because they are either not reported, or they are in remote villages. Conviction rate is also low at about 40%. Though illiteracy etc. are cited, most cases often involve land and property that the branded woman is targeted for.

http://m.timesofindia.com/india/210-women-tortured-to-death-for-witchcraft-in-Chhattisgarh-many-await-justice/articleshow/45397113.cms

210 women murdered & 1500 tortured as ‘#witches’ in Chhattisgarh, India

In just one state of India, that of Chattisgarh, there have been at least 1500 known cases of women being publicly tortured by villagers as witches. At least 210 were murdered. However the actual number of cases are unknown because they are either not reported, or they are in remote villages. Conviction rate is also low at about 40%. Though illiteracy etc. are cited, most cases often involve land and property that the branded woman is targeted for.

http://m.timesofindia.com/india/210-women-tortured-to-death-for-witchcraft-in-Chhattisgarh-many-await-justice/articleshow/45397113.cms

Mother and Daughter Branded as “#Witches” Are #Lynched by Villagers in Raipur, #India

23 November, 2014, Raipur

A 60 year old and her 40 year old daughter who had been branded as witches by their village, were lynched to death. The police hasn’t filed a case yet, and say they will do so only after they’ve investigated what happened.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/Branded-witch-2-battered-to-death-in-Narayanpur/articleshow/45244446.cms