Baripada: A court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district sentenced five members of a family to life imprisonment on Wednesday for killing a woman, claiming she was a “witch”.
Additional sessions judge Prabir Chaudhary also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on the convicts, additional public prosecutor Krushna Chandra Das said.
The incident occurred in the Dumurdiha village under Kuliana police station on April 26, 2018. They suspected that Sambari Murmu was practicing witchcraft, which led to ailments in their family.
The accused tied Murmu’s hands and legs and assaulted her with weapons, including a crowbar. Murmu was critically injured and succumbed to her injuries on the way to the Baripada hospital.
The judgement was based on 33 witnesses, seizure of weapons and medical reports.
PTI