Mayurbhanj, Apr 15: Superstitious beliefs still persists in rural areas of the state and one such example of it has come to fore.
With the belief of being possessed by an evil spirit, a woman was branded with hot iron rods to ward off an evil spirit hovering on her at Gadiapal village under Kaptipada police limits in Udala here. Although the incident happened on Mar 14, the incident came to fore recently after the woman was freed from the grasp of the witch-doctor, Chotray Murmu. The cops have detained Murmu and has also began investigation. On the other hand, the woman has been hospitalized to undergo treatment. The family of the victim had earlier for Murmu’s help for healing their child who was not well from the past few months. They even paid Rs 14,000 to the doctor in two installments. On Mar 14, the doctor asked them to come for a special ritual. It was then that Murmu allegedly branded the woman as ‘witch’ and later pushed her towards a pool of fire. As a result, the women sustained grievous burn injuries on the hand, neck and other parts of the body. It has also been alleged that both the woman and her child had been captivated by Murmu and were much later rescued by the villagers.
