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Assam Woman burnt alive over suspected ‘witchcraft’

In a tragic incident in Assam, a woman named Sangita Kapi, identified as an Adivasi and a mother of three, was reportedly burned alive by a group of individuals who suspected her of practicing witchcraft. The harrowing event took place in a village in northern Assam’s Sonitpur district on Sunday evening. Authorities swiftly arrested six individuals from the same village in connection with the crime. The victim’s husband, Ram Kapi, recounted the brutal attack, stating that the assailants accused his wife of being a witch, assaulted her while she was cooking, and ignored his pleas to stop the violence. He further claimed that upon returning after taking his children to his brother’s house, he found his home in flames.

Following the incident, the woman’s body was sent to Tezpur Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. The police, acknowledging the severity of the situation, visited the village to conduct an inquiry into the incident. Witch-hunting remains a distressing social issue in certain parts of Assam, persisting despite extensive awareness campaigns by the state government, NGOs, and individuals. The Gauhati High Court had previously condemned the dehumanizing act of branding someone as a witch and engaging in witch-hunting, considering it among the worst human rights violations. In 2018, the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act was enacted to address this issue, stating that individuals involved in assaulting or causing harm resulting in the death of a person accused of being a witch would be punished in accordance with IPC section 302.

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