Dalit Woman Beaten Up After Being Branded A Witch

Branded as a 'witch', a 57-year-old dalit woman was beaten up, forced to wear a skirt made of broomsticks and paraded through the roads in a village in Palamau district, police said on Saturday. "We have information that the woman, Wasia Defi, was subjected to beating and humiliation by some residents of Ledki village," about 30 km from here yesterday after they branded her as a witch, Palamau Superintendent of Police, Mohit Bundus, told reporters in Medininagar.Accusing Devi of practicing 'witchcraft', the villagers not only humiliated the woman but also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on her, Bundus said. Unable to watch his mother's plight, her son Gajendra Chauhan paid Rs 17,000 to the villagers and pleaded them to free her. Bundus said a police team had already reached the village to probe the incident and book the culprits.