Dukalheen Bai, 55, has been tortured and beaten to death in New Delhi by her family members who suspected her of practicing witchcraft, India Police reports.
The District police chief, Narendra Khare, told newsmen in Bemetera district on Monday, October 27, 2014 that Bai died in the Bemetera district of the central state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, October 25, 2014 after 12 of her family members tortured her for practicing witchcraft.
All the 12 family members, including her brother-in-law, Nakul Patel, have been arrested by the police for the crime.
According to the district police, “Patel and his family blamed her for making his son ill by practising witchcraft.
“On Saturday, October 25, 2014 they dragged the woman out of the house, punched her and beat her with sticks, she died on the scene,” Khare said.
“When she protested her innocence, the relatives attacked her with sticks and punched and kicked her in front of her 28-year-old son. He later took her to hospital where she was declared dead,” he added.
India, according to reports has no specific law against witchcraft practice but incidents of torture and killing of women branded as witches are reported almost on daily intervals from around the country.
National Crime Records Bureau in India also documented at least 2,100 people, mostly women, who were murdered between 2000 and 2012 for allegedly practising witchcraft.
