NHRC issues notices to Bihar govt, DGP over killing of 5 family members for ‘witchcraft’

The NHRC said on 16 July, Wednesday, that it has issued notices to the Bihar government and the state's police chief over reports that five members of a Scheduled Tribe (ST) family were allegedly hacked to death and their bodies burnt on suspicion of 'practising witchcraft' in Purnia district earlier this month.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also directed the state government to take steps to ensure the safety of a 16-year-old boy, the sole surviving member of the family and an eyewitness to the alleged incident, and provide counselling to him.

The NHRC has taken "suo motu cognisance of a media report that five members of a family, belonging to Scheduled Tribe, including three women, were allegedly hacked to death and their bodies were burnt on suspicion of practising witchcraft" in Bihar's Purnia district on the night of July 6, the rights panel said in a statement.

The commission observed that the contents of the news reports, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights.

Therefore, it said it has issued notices to the chief secretary and the director general of police of Bihar, seeking a detailed report in two weeks, including the present status of the investigation of the case and arrest of the perpetrators.

According to the media reports published on 8 July, the 16-year-old sole surviving member of the family had informed police that a mob of around 50 people had allegedly stormed into their house, accusing his mother of practising witchcraft, the statement said.

The mob first allegedly assaulted his mother with bamboo sticks, calling her a witch. Then it attacked the rest of the family members who came to rescue her and hacked all of them to death in front of the survivor, it said, quoting the reports.

Later, the assailants allegedly carried the victims' bodies around 100–150 metres away from their house and set those ablaze, the NHRC said.

Reportedly, villagers suspected that the illness and death of a boy in the village were caused by the victim family by practising witchcraft, it added.