Ground Report

Four members of a family, including two women, were stoned and buried alive by villagers on suspicion of practicing witchcraft in central Assam’s Sonitpur district. The incident took place on Tuesday night at Koilajuli-Milanpur, a remote tribal village near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. Two villagers, Bikram Majhi and Gobin Majhi suddenly fell sick and died. Their family accused Lakshman Majhi of casting an evil spell to kill them.The village head summoned Lakshman Majhi, 65, to a public meeting on Tuesday evening at Koilajuli Milanpur village. Hundreds of villagers who participated in the meeting, accused him of casting evil spells on the two.  Majhi, his wife Suman Majhi (60), son Durga Majhi (45), and daughter-in-law Sabitri Majhi (35) were held guilty by the village court.Immediately, angry villagers pelted them with stones and dragged them into the nearby jungle and buried them alive, police said.  Earlier also, five persons were lynched on suspicion of practicing witchcraft in Chadharu area of Biswanath sub-division in the same district  Police have arrested three accused and launched an awareness campaign with the help of literate villagers in the area. More than 500 have been killed in the state in the past few years for practising ‘witchcraft’