Residents of Chikari village in Majuli being made to hold their ears during a “purification” drive (Parikhit Saikia)

Nagaon/Guwahati, Oct. 16: Police today arrested two villagers at Dokmoka in Karbi Anglong district and continued the search for three women who led hundreds to torture a veteran athlete after branding her a witch yesterday.

Debojani Bora, a veteran athlete of Dokmoka Serekaligaon, was caught by some villagers yesterday and forcibly produced in the front yard of a local namghar, where she was punished for “practising black magic”.

The incident took place around 2pm yesterday.

Dokmoka police station officer-in-charge J.K. Sinha said the two villagers, Radha Laskar and Dilson Medhi, were arrested this morning based on the reports stated in the FIR lodged by the victim’s family last night.

Dokmoka, under Diphu subdivision, is 45km from Karbi Anglong district headquarters Diphu.

“These people (the villagers) tied her up with a fishing net at home and took her to the namghar. She was beaten up in the presence of the villagers,” the family stated in the FIR.

File picture of Debojani Bora

The unconscious Debojani was rescued by a family member and later admitted to a local health centre for treatment.

This is the second such incident in Serekaligaon in the last three months.

In August, villagers beat up a 60-year-old woman at the same place on the suspicion of her being a witch.

Debojani, 35, who represented Assam in several national meets, had won a gold medal in javelin throw.

“The incident is an outcome of personal enmity,” said Debojani’s husband, Hiteswar Medhi, a farmer.

A Karbi Anglong police team, led by additional superintendent of police Balin Deuri, arrested the two villagers.

“The two were directly involved in the incident. We have the names of the three women who instigated the villagers but they are absconding,” Deuri said.

Deuri said Debojani was sent home after treatment.

Nearly 70 persons, mostly women, have been killed in Assam since 2005, on the suspicion of being witches.

Assam registered two witch-hunting cases till July this year. The number was 29 in 2011, 11 in 2012 and 16 in 2013. The BTAD districts, Sonitpur, Karbi Anglong and Kamrup have reported the maximum number of alleged witch-hunting cases.

Even Majuli, known for preserving Xattriya culture, has failed to stop witch hunting.

Last year, a self-acclaimed “goddess Lakshmi” made villagers of Chikari in the island kneel and hold their ears to “purify” them. In January this year, police filed a case against a school headmaster for branding a woman a witch.

Asom Satra Mahasabha president Leelakanta Mahanta said failure of some communities to follow the teachings of Xankardeb has stoked superstitious beliefs among them.

“The xatras have tried their best but it is not always possible to wean people away from their traditional beliefs,” said Mahanta.