"As villagers chanted hymns, one elderly woman identified me as the witch, and shouted that I should be punished"
LONDON, Oct 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An Indian female athlete was tied up, assaulted and dragged to a community hall to face a public trial by village elders after being branded a witch in her home in the northeastern state of Assam, according to a BBC News report on Friday.
Debjani Bora, a javelin thrower who lives in the remote hill district of Karbi Anglong with her husband and three children, said she was blamed for the deaths of four people in her village by elders who suspected a witch was responsible, the BBC said.
The practice of accusing people, mostly women, of being witches and assaulting or killing them is still common in some parts of India, particularly among tribal communities, although it is illegal.
"As the villagers were chanting hymns, one elderly woman identified me as the witch, and shouted that I should be punished," the BBC quoted Bora as saying.
"I was blamed for all these deaths in the village, wrapped up in fishing nets and beaten severely."
Bora, who makes a living as a farm worker, was taken to a local clinic after the attack, and fears her injuries could prevent her from representing India in a forthcoming Asian competition, the BBC said.
Karbi Anglong police chief Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta said one woman was arrested on Thursday after Bora's family filed a complaint with the police.
"We suspect that she may have targeted Ms Bora for personal reasons," Mahanta was quoted as saying by the BBC.
A United Nations official said last year that archaic practices such as lynching women accused of witchcraft, honour killings and dowry murders persisted in India because they remained socially acceptable.
Government statistics show there were 160 cases of murder linked to witch hunts in 2013, and 119 in 2012. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert)
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