Man Beheads Witch To Avenge Brother's Death

Notwithstanding the Jharkhand government’s campaign to counter superstition among the people, killings in the name of exorcism, particularly in rural areas, continue. In one such bizarre incident, a 35-year-old tribal man, Jairam Hansda, beheaded a 40-year-old woman, Renti Hansda, for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Ghatshila and, drunk to his gills, wobbled into the police station with the severed head and surrendered. Cops on duty were stunned to see the man with the head of a woman in his hand. Jairam was immediately taken into custody.A police source said the weapon used for the killing too has been seized and added that Jairam has confessed to his crime saying he killed the woman, his neighbour, as she was a "witch" responsible for the death of his brother a few days ago. "Renti’s ‘black magic’ was also the reason for my father’s death nine years ago," Jairam said. It transpires that Jairam had lured Renti into joining him for a drink in Tiridih village. He then took her to a paddy field where he beheaded her. A police team recovered the torso lying in a pool of blood from the spot. The body was sent for the post-mortem examination.