Jorhat, May 6: Ritamoni’s nightmare began a year ago when her father-in-law’s nephew dreamt that someone resembling her had possessed him. A couple of villagers died soon after and Ritamoni was branded a witch.

On the day after Kali Puja last year, the villagers attacked Ritamoni. She told The Telegraph that she was kicked in the stomach and the village women tried to drag her away into the nearby jungle to possibly kill her.

“A day after Kali puja last year this incident occurred and though my in-laws saved me, I was forced to leave with my husband and young children for my father’s house, as my life was at risk,” she said.

Ever since that day, Ritamoni had been living with her husband and children at her father’s house in Majuli.

Yesterday, Brothers, a social welfare organisation, tried to take her back to her husband’s house in Bahphala village, 12km northwest of Jorhat town. But a hostile crowd thwarted this attempt.

The NGO had decided to hold an awareness campaign in the village to dispel the villagers’ superstitions. But things did not go as planned.

Only a few people showed up, said Dibyajyoti Saikia, the secretary general of Brothers. “Most of the people gathered near the Bishnudev Kanistha Mahavidyalaya, the site of the meeting, and shouted slogans against us, Ritamoni and the police team that accompanied us,” he said.

He felt the crowd would have pounced on them if the police weren’t around.

The villagers shouted “Brothers murdabad”, “Police murdabad”, “Go back Ritamoni”, Saikia said, adding that no one was allowed to take out their cameras.

“Our bid to return Ritamoni to her husband’s house failed because no one was willing to listen to reason. And the charged atmosphere was not conducive to leaving her behind. We had to send her back to Majuli after the meeting got over around 4.15pm,” he said.

Deputy superintendent of police Dilip Barua, who led the police team, affirmed that the crowd was hostile.

People in Jorhat district do not usually subscribe to superstitions, Barua said, adding that Ritamoni’s situation was compounded by the fact that she was related to a family whose three members were killed at Bordua in Majuli last year after being branded ‘witches’.

Brothers came across Ritamoni’s case while working in Majuli and persuaded her to move the Garmur court. The court directed Pulibor police station to file an FIR. In February this year, an FIR was lodged.

Today, Thowra MLA Sushanta Borgohain said believing in witches was a deep-rooted problem in Bodo, Mising and some other indigenous communities of the state and it would take a sustained campaign to eradicate such beliefs.

He hoped that more NGOs would come up and fight this issue.