A man in Bankishula village under Balasore’s Nilagiri block was bludgeoned to death by irate villagers on Monday over suspicion of practicing witchcraft.
The deceased has been identified as Shyam Singh.
As per reports, Singh had an altercation over an unknown issue with some villagers in the morning. During the argument, Singh reportedly threatened to cast spells on some of the people in the village, after which the mob grew violent and thrashed Singh to death.
As per reports, the mob severed Singh’s tongue before killing him.
Minati Singh, wife of the deceased, said, “They (Villagers) killed my husband. They tied his neck to a pole by a belt, and when his tongue came out of the mouth, they severed it by a sharp weapon. Then they bludgeoned him to death.”
Minati alleged that Meena Singh, his wife and Chanda Singh of the same village killed his husband.
A local, Upendra Nayak said, “The villagers killed him brutally over superstition. This is the age of 5G. And here we are still killing each other over sorcery. This is a result of lack of awareness. The accused did not have fear for the law. They never cared for the consequence.”
“The administration should take initiatives to make the people aware about the evils of superstition. This is a tribal infested area. The officials here in the block should think of ways to spread awareness first,” Nayak added.
The police reached the spot and have launched a probe into the incident.
(Reported By Biswambar Das, OTV)