TURA: Four persons have been arrested by North Garo Hills Police for beating to dead and elderly man and grievously injuring his wife on allegation that they were practicing witchcraft.
The incident occurred on Monday night at Sari A’we-Gandim Village under Dainadubi of the same district in which one, Poding Momin (68) and his wife Sening Sangma (65) were attacked by the four accused at around 10 pm, in which Poding died on the spot while his wife Sening suffered grave injuries and is currently fighting for her life in hospital.
The four arrested persons have been identified as Peneth N Marak (43), Golits A Momin (18), Rajiv A Momin (34) and Polbit A Momin (24). While Peneth is the son of Monjing Marak, the other three accused are siblings and sons of Malkit N Marak. The four were picked up by police at around 7 am on Tuesday morning and legal formalities have begun.
Upon interrogation, the four accused revealed that they had attacked the elderly couple believing they had used witchcraft on a sick person from the village, after he got worse soon after seeing them in a dream. The four had also started beating up other family members when neighbours heard their cries and rushed to the house, prompting them to flee from the spot.
Following the incident, North Garo Hills Superintendent of Police, D P Marak has urged villagers to be vigilant and inform the police if such cases take place.
“Citizens of the district must stay away from such blind belief which has no valid and legal acceptable evidence. In this time and age we need to come away from our primitive way of thinking,” Marak said.
Meanwhile, Social activist, Jaynie Ningring N Sangma was quick to condemn the incident and termed the act as a great crime.