A brutal incident of triple-murder driven by superstition has emerged from Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi. Three women were allegedly beaten to death on accusations of witchcraft at around 8:30 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2022. The incident occurred at Ranadih, the last village in the Sonahatu police station jurisdiction of Ranchi district.
In this case, police said on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, that the bodies of two victims were retrieved on Sunday, while another body was recovered on Monday.
According to media reports, three ladies were assaulted with sticks by a group of locals who claimed that they practised witchcraft and that some individuals in the hamlet had been bitten by snakes as a result.
After they died, their bodies were “dumped” in a hilly area close to the village.
The news of the violent murder of three ladies, including an elderly woman, has caused quite a stir in the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kaushal Kishore informed that thirteen people, including the husband and the son of one of the murdered women, have been booked in connection with the killings. Eight people have so far been arrested and a search is on for the rest. The police have also detained the husband of one of the victims for questioning after he was named in the complaint filed by the woman’s nephew.
Story of ‘witchcraft’ concocted by an exorcist led to the brutal murder of the three women
In what transpired, Raj Kishore Munda, an 18-year-old student at Tamar’s Eklavya Vidyalaya and a resident of the hamlet, passed away from a snake bite on Thursday (September 1) evening. He was Ranadih inhabitant Ramsakal Singh Munda’s son.
Following the tragedy, locals went to a snake-charmer who also doubles up as an exorcist in the Ranadih hamlet. He informed the locals that the death was caused by some local women practising witchcraft and that if they were not eliminated, the village would be destroyed. The quack somehow convinced the locals to believe that the women would soon murder another young person from their own family.
Incidentally, on Friday, September 2, a boy named Abhimanyu Singh Munda was also bitten by a snake. Though he was saved after getting medical aid.
Taking Ojha’s superstition into account, a village assembly was held in the village, and Railu Devi (45 years), wife of Abhimanyu Singh Munda, was brought in and beaten up. She was asked to confess to being a witch. Under duress, Railu Devi admitted that she practised withchcraft. At this point, when she was pressurised to name other witches in the villages, she, out of fear, named Dholi Devi and Aloomani Devi. The three women were then taken to a mountain near Ranadih and beaten to death.
Mukesh Hembram, the station in charge of Sonahatu police station, learned of the murders. The police team arrived at the village on the orders of the higher officers. When people were questioned, it was discovered that the police’s information was accurate.
Speaking about the case, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kaushal Kishore said, “We had constituted an SIT to probe into the ghastly incident. So far eight persons named in the FIR have been arrested. Search is on for another 16 persons. We will also be arresting the quack who had instigated the villagers.”