Kusuma Khatun, 60, of Godar-8 was kicked out of her village on October 13 after another elderly person in the neighborhood died. The villagers got her head shaved and force-fed her with feces before throwing her out. [break]
The National Women´s Commission (NWC) had urged the local administration to find the elderly woman and take action against the offending locals but her whereabouts remain unknown.
“The fact that a citizen is treated inhumanely on a charge of witchcraft makes a mockery of the rule of law,” NWC Member Mohna Ansari said.
“The negligence of the administration is shown by the fact that the police knew nothing about the incident for one week and the administration has not been able to find her despite being made aware of the situation,” Ansari added.
The daughter-in-law of Rojitani Khatun, the woman who died allegedly due to Kusuma´s dark powers, argued however that with the punishing of Kusuma justice has been done.
“The police and administration cannot be bigger than society and we all have to live by social norms,” Hasina claimed. She even slammed NWC Member Ansar, who was on a field visit to investigate the incident. “Who are you to investigate this matter? We have lost a family member and the police and administration will not bring her back to life,” she fumed.
Bipin Mandal, a local, also insisted that society did nothing wrong in throwing out a witch who killed people in broad daylight. The village wears a deserted look as the menfolk stay away for fear of inspections by the administration while the women rush indoors and stay there on seeing any strangers.
Members of Kusuma´s family are living in hiding while those of Rojitani also leave their house at four in the afternoon for fear of Kusuma´s black magic.
“Kusuma´s son and daughter-in-law are scared as the locals threatened to mete out to them the same treatment as Kusuma if they tell anybody about the incident,” a neighboring woman told Republica.
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