A group of persons barged into the house of an old tribal woman in a South Dinajpur village on Friday night, beat her up and drove her out, accusing her of practising witchcraft.
Mary Hansda, 60, of Naupara tribal village in Balurghat block, is currently staying at a relative’s place in another village. The attackers have also forced her widowed daughter and grandson to leave the house.
Sources said Mary used to stay at her daughter’s place.
“Often, villagers used to accuse her of being a witch and abuse her. She and her daughter protested, but nothing changed,” said a source. "But on Friday night, she was thrashed and forced out of her home with the threat that she would be burnt alive if she returned,” the source added.
When her daughter tried to save her, the attackers beat her and her son. Eventually, all three moved out of the village.
On Saturday, Mary filed a complaint with Balurghat police, naming seven villagers.
“We have initiated a probe based on the complaint,” Sumanta Biswas, the inspector-in-charge, said.
Ranjan Mahato, head of the local Chingishpur panchayat, said he was gathering information about the incident. Arup Sarkar, the head of Balurghat panchayat samiti, said they would visit the village to ensure such incidents did not recur.