Tribal woman lynched over witchcraft suspicion in Tripura, three held

Agartala, Oct 31: Three individuals have been arrested for allegedly murdering a 63-year-old tribal woman on suspicion of practising witchcraft in a village in West Tripura district, police said.

Upon receiving information that Nandarani Debbarma, accused by locals of practising sorcery, had gone missing from Abhicharan village under the Sidhai Police Station limits, a special police team launched an extensive search operation in the area, a senior officer informed.

“The body of the elderly woman was exhumed from a forested area near Abhicharan on October 26. An FIR was registered following the recovery of the body. On Thursday, we arrested three individuals from the locality for their alleged involvement in the killing,” said Ajit Kumar Chakma, Officer-in-Charge of Sidhai Police Station, on Friday.

According to the preliminary investigation, some villagers believed that “two families in the area had fallen ill due to Nandarani’s alleged black magic.”

“Driven by this superstition, a mob barged into Nandarani’s house on October 26 and brutally lynched her. To ensure her death, they tied her body to a window. Later, the assailants buried the body in a nearby forest in an attempt to destroy evidence,” the officer detailed.

The arrested individuals are currently being interrogated, and further investigation is underway, Chakma added.

PTI