Seraikela, Jharkhand: In a shocking case of superstition-driven violence, an elderly woman was brutally murdered after being branded a witch in the remote Naxal-affected Raijama village under Kharsawan police station limits of Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The victim, identified as 62-year-old Guruwari Sardar, wife of late Mota Sardar, was allegedly killed and buried in a pit on a nearby hill.
According to police reports, Guruwari Sardar had been missing since October 31. Acting on a secret tip-off from villagers, Kharsawan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Gaurav Kumar launched an investigation. The probe revealed that on the same day, two villagers—Gurua Sardar and Soma Sardar—had taken the woman from her house. During interrogation, both accused confessed to the murder and revealed that they had buried her body in a pit at Govargota Hill, located some distance from the village.
Following the confession, a police team led by Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sameer Kumar Sawaiya, trainee SDPO Pooja Kumari, Circle Officer Captain Sinku, Inspector Nitin Kumar Singh, and Officer-in-Charge Gaurav Kumar recovered the skeletal remains from the site. The entire exhumation was videographed, and the remains were sent to Seraikela Sadar Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Police officials stated that the accused blamed the elderly woman for their family members’ prolonged illnesses, accusing her of being a witch. Driven by this blind belief and superstition, they murdered her. Both accused have now been arrested, and a detailed investigation into the incident is underway.
