Five members of family burnt alive in Bihar on allegation of witchcraft: Here's what happened

Five members of a family in Bihar's Purnia district were set ablaze on suspicion of practising 'witchcraft' on Monday (July 7). The incident took place in Tetgama village of Purnia district when a mob entered the house of Sita Devi and accused her of practising 'black magic'. Speaking to reporters, Sita Devi's son said that the mob began thrashing everyone who was at home, and he managed to escape and take shelter at a relative's house. As per police, the suspicion of witchcraft surfaced when a villager named Ramdev Oraon's son passed away, and another son became ill. Two people have been arrested in the incident.

"People from the village came with bamboo sticks and beat everyone, calling my mother a 'witch'. They beat up five people, including my mother, father, brother and sister-in-law. The other villagers did not stop them," Sonu told reporters. As per reports, five family members were then set alabazr and their bodies were hidden under water hyacinth.

Purnia Sub-Divisional Police officer Pankaj Kumar Sharma said Sonu filed a police complaint on Monday. "Sonu Kumar said his family members were beaten and burned on suspicion of practising 'witchcraft' and their bodies were thrown away. We have recovered the bodies," Sharma said. "One of the children of Ramdev Oraon died three days back and the other child fell sick. The villagers suspected Sita Devi of practising 'witchcraft' and it seems that this is the reason they attacked the family," the police officer said.

The deceased were identified as Babu Lal Oraon (50), his mother Kanto Devi (70), wife Sita Devi (45), son Manjit Kumar (25) and daughter-in-law Rani Devi (22). SP Sweety Sahrawat, along with other senior police officers, reached the village to take stock of the situation. “No one in the village is cooperating with the police and police detained two people on the basis of the clues received from the boy,” the statement said.