Odisha woman stripped, assaulted in public by villagers on witchcraft suspicion: Police

A woman was allegedly stripped and brutally assaulted in public by villagers of Banitia in Odisha’s Bhadrak district on suspicion of practising witchcraft, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on September 25, but the woman lodged a complaint on Wednesday, following which police registered a case against six people, including two women.

“Six people, including two women, have been named in the case. No one has been arrested so far. We are searching for those named in the complaint,” Bhadrak Rural police station inspector-in-charge Subrat Das said.

The woman alleged that a group of villagers barged into her house when her husband and son were not at home.

“They beat me on suspicion of witchcraft. I told them I had done nothing, but they continued beating me on the village street. I ran home to save my life, but they entered the house and assaulted me again. Then they dragged me onto the village street, where I was stripped and beaten. They beat me like an animal,” the woman said.

She alleged that the attackers also looted articles from her house in Banitia village.

The woman was being taken to hospital in an auto-rickshaw with the help of the local sarpanch when some villagers stopped the vehicle, dragged her out and assaulted her again. Police later reached the village, rescued her and admitted her to the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital.

Three days ago, a 41-year-old man from Gajapati district was allegedly beaten to death by villagers and his body burnt after being taken from his home over suspicion that he practised witchcraft.

The incident comes amid the Odisha government’s move to frame the State Policy for Witch-Hunting (Prevention, Protection and Prosecution), 2026.

The proposed policy seeks stronger preventive measures, immediate rescue of victims and faster legal proceedings in witch-hunting cases, particularly in rural and tribal areas.

It also envisages special courts and trained prosecutors for time-bound trials, besides round-the-clock response mechanisms, systematic tracking of cases and action against officials who fail to register complaints or properly investigate such incidents.