Bhubaneswar: In a barbaric act, a 60-year-old woman, Pana Hansda, was stripped nude and thrashed mercilessly in the public on suspicion of practicing sorcery at Jodapokhari village of Mayrbhanj district of Odisha.
Sushant Hansda, an 18-old boy of Jodapokhari village, was brought to Rairangpur sub divisional hospital on July 23 for treatment, but the doctors declared him as ‘brought dead.’
According to the villagers while the family members of Sushant were preparing for cremation, the boys hands began to shake and his respiratory organs reportedly started functioning. Feeling that the boy was alive, the family members sought the help of an exorcist, who, after examining the body, expressed their inability to keep him alive.
Meanwhile, three women of the village claimed they would bring the boy back to life and started practicing sorcery on the body. While the treatment was underway, one of the women, Pana Hansda, suddenly left the area.
Suspecting that Pana was practicing sorcery, the villagers brought her out of her home, stripped her and beat her black and blue after tying her hands around an electric pole.
Police rushed to the spot and rescued the old woman and admitted her to the district headquarters hospital at Baripada. Despite the efforts by senior district officials, there was no improvement in the situation. The body of the deceased was yet to be cremated.
