Jan. 15: Branded witches and expelled from their homes, five residents of a remote village of this district have mustered the courage to lodge a complaint with the police. The wall of superstition is, however, proving to be too hard for even the police to crack.

A kangaroo court at Banshijhora, under Gouripur police station, ordered the expulsion of Rupali Rabha, Sujendra Rabha, Iswari Rabha, Anil Rabha and Surya Bala Rabha on November 31 for allegedly practising witchcraft. Four of them have since been staying with relatives at Devitola village and the fifth is at Modati village, near Gouripur.

A police team last week rounded up 11 residents of Banshijhora on charges of forcibly evicting the five from their village. But nearly 300 people laid siege to Gouripur police station soon after, forcing the police to release the 11 accused.

“They are so wedded to superstition that they believe the expulsion was right. We were caught in a Catch 22 situation,” a member of the investigation team explained.

Subal Rava, a resident of Banshijhora, declared that the village was united in its campaign against witchcraft. “We told police to either release our 11 men or arrest all of us. The police cannot arrest just 11. The expulsion was a collective decision and, logically, they should arrest all the people of the village.”

A team from the Dhubri unit of the All Rabha Students’ Union, led by its president Binedra Rabha, yesterday met police officers at Gouripur and sought action against the 11 accused.

The office-in-charge of Gouripur police station, Bhupen Chandra Das, said a case has been registered against those who allegedly masterminded the expulsion of the five persons.

“Action will be taken against the accused. But only legal steps won’t help solve the problem, which is essentially social in nature and calls for a change in people’s outlook. We are thinking of involving social organisations to end the problem,” Das said.

The police official also said a fresh campaign against witchcraft would be launched soon.

Bodo filmmaker Rahen’s Bhoot was a fairly accurate depiction of how certain tribal societies routinely brand people as witches and persecute them.

However, the celluloid campaign against the superstitions surrounding witchcraft seems to have had little impact on people in the hinterland.

The government and NGOs have also failed to weed out the superstitions that still grip tribal societies.