Correspondent
GUWAHATI, OCTOBER 19
The locals in an Assam village took out a march on Sunday to urge people to forgive them after they had “tortured” an athlete, branding her as a witch.
“We had committed an unpardonable act by subjecting her to public humiliation. We urge the people in the state to forgive us. We assure that we will not allow such devilish act to take place in our village in the future,” some people participating in the march were heard taking the pledge.
Recently, during a special puja-cum-prayer inside a naamghar (community prayer hall), javelin thrower Debojani Bora (50) was tortured by some people, including women, for allegedly practicing black magic. The attack was allegedly led by the naamgharia (he leads community prayers in a naamghar), Radha Laskar. The police arrested him and another person a day after the incident after it had sparked off protests.
In the last six months or so, a number of deaths occurred in the village. The diseased included among others alcoholics. The villagers thought the deaths occurred owing to black magic practiced by a witch.
Subsequently, they conducted a search. When that did not pay of, they organized a special prayer-cum- puja at the naamghar to pin down the witch. It was during the prayer that Laskar identified Debojani as the culprit.
Debojani represented Assam in several national championships. Three years back, she had won a gold medal in a national level championship for veteran athletes.
After the incident had drawn censure and protests, the district administration organized an awareness programme in the village Cherekali which has around 150 households.
Debojani expressed happiness to see the people taking the pledge. “I am happy to see them admitting that what they did with me was wrong,” she said. “The people in our village easily get driven by superstitious beliefs. Hopefully, henceforth, they will not give in to such beliefs,” she added.
