Berhampur, Sept 1: In spite of the Witch Hunting Act, 2013 in force in the state, harassment and torture to innocents suspected of practicing sorcery continue nonstop. Such a practice was witnessed in S B Jagdebpur under Jarada police station limits in the Patrapur block of Ganjam district where the villagers here thrashed brutally two persons blue and black suspecting them to practice witchcraft, knocking out their teeth and forced them to eat human excreta.
It’s stated that the villagers believed that these two persons, Basudeb Nayak and Banchha Nayak are responsible for the death of two children of a family in the village a few days back through sorcery. The duo has been allegedly threatened of dire consequences by the villagers if they dared to report the matter to the police. Scared Basudeb and Banchha did not even come in front of Sujit Kumar Nayak, IIC Jarada who visited S B Jagdebpur to record their complaint, lodging a police complaint is out of question.
On getting information about this incident, Nayak had made a visit to the village on Wednesday for investigation and had questioned the villagers about it. In absence of complaint, police action against the accused has been delayed.
