Sukumar and his wife Budhia at their home in Srikrishnapur before they were taken into safe custody by police. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Jan. 27: Police have acted in time to save the lives of an elderly couple who had been dubbed witches by their neighbours in a village in Habibpur and were in danger of being lynched.

Sukumar Kishku and his wife Budhia, both above 60, were rescued from Srikrishnapur and taken into safe custody by the police yesterday.

According to investigating officers, Sukumar’s younger brother Hepna had a three-year-old daughter, Saheli, who died recently. Hepna and his family members started suspecting that Sukumar and his wife might have cast a magic spell on Saheli to kill her.

One of the main reasons for their suspicion was that Sukumar had visited his brother’s house few days prior to Saheli’s death and had reportedly said that her days were numbered.

“The girl’s subsequent death made them believe more firmly that it was Sukumar and his wife who had used witchcraft against her. According to other villagers, the family then went to a witch doctor in Bihar who ‘confirmed’ the old couple’s hands in the matter,” said the officer.

The witch doctor also “foresaw” more deaths in the village if the couple were allowed to remain alive.

After the family returned to Srikrishnapur, a meeting held in the presence of the village head, Upen Kishku, decided that the couple should either leave the village or be killed. The villagers also slapped a fine of Rs 6,000 on the couple as reimbursement of the money Hepna and his family had spent to visit the witch doctor in Bihar.

Sukumar and his wife, who were also present at the meeting, contested the decision.

“The couple, who have one son and two minor daughters and some land for cultivation, argued that Hepna and the other villagers were giving them a bad name to grab their land,” said the police.

Sukumar made clear that they would, under no circumstances, leave the village.

When the news of growing tension in the village reached the pradhan of Srirampur gram panchayat, Sukumar Soren, on Friday, he immediately informed the police. Soren, too, said the charges of witchcraft were just a cover; the villagers were mainly interested in the 15-bigha land Sukumar has.

Headed by the inspector-in-charge of the Habibpur police station, Bipul Majumder, a police team arrived in the village yesterday and took the ageing couple into custody.

District superintendent of police Sukumar Bandyopadhyay said: “We could act because we got the information on time.”

The police chief added that steps would be taken against those who were conspiring to kill the couple. Sukumar and Budhia are currently staying at the police station and the law enforcers would later try to rehabilitate the couple at their village.