Woman forced to eat human excreta on witchcraft charge

Patna, April 28 (IANS) A woman in a village in Bihar's Sitamarhi district was forced by some people to eat human excreta and drink urine after being branded a witch, police said Saturday.

Krishna Kumari Devi, in her early 30s, was first abused and beaten in Bathnaha village in Sitamarhi, about 150 km from here, on suspicion of practising witchcraft after a minor child died in the village.

"Later, some powerful people forced me to eat human excreta and drink urine after they blamed me for the death of the child and branded me a witch," Krishna Kumari Devi said.

Police official Rajeev Ranjan told IANS over telephone that the victim has filed a complaint in this regard. "She approached local police to seek justice and action against the accused named in the case," he said.

He said the police have began investigation in the case.

The practice of branding women as witches and torturing them continues unabated in remote rural areas of Bihar. The state women and child development department has proposed a stringent law against women being branded witches.

Last year, the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) directed the state police chief to instruct the SPs of all the districts to expedite investigation/trial of pending cases relating to offences under Prevention of Witch Hunting Act 1999.