Bengal: BJP leader booked for branding tribal woman with iron rod, 3 held

While three persons have been arrested, the BJP leader, Rabindra Hansda, and one more accused is absconding.

A local BJP leader and four others have been booked for allegedly torturing a 55-year-old tribal woman after branding her as a witch in Jhargram district. While three persons have been arrested, the BJP leader, Rabindra Hansda, and one more accused is absconding.

According to police, the incident happened on Sunday night when the woman was abducted allegedly by Hansda and his men from her home at Bhalkishore village. They took her to his native village, Baghmari, where they beat her up and branded her with a hot rod. After the woman fell unconscious, she was dumped in her home. With her only son visiting his in-laws, the neighbours came to know about the incident on Monday morning.

Later in the day, the woman and her son filed the complaint with police and named Hansda and five others.

Police said that Hansda’s distant relative who lives in the same village as that of the woman had fallen ill. A local tantrik had told Hansda that the 55-year-old woman was a witch and responsible for his relative’s illness, said police, adding that on Sunday, when the woman was alone at her home, Hansda and his men abducted her and then tortured her.