Brutality over witchcraft: Five burnt alive by mob in Bihar, 3 arrested

Bihar: In a chilling case allegedly driven by superstition, five members of a family were beaten and burnt alive in Bihar’s Purnea district on the night of July 6, police officials confirmed. The victims, including three women, were accused by villagers of practising witchcraft following the death of a local child.

Speaking to reporters, Purnea District Magistrate Anshul Kumar stated: “This incident happened on the night of July 6. Five people were beaten and then burned alive. Yesterday, the police and administration recovered all the bodies. The post-mortem has been conducted and last rites have been performed.”

According to Kumar, an FIR has been filed against 23 named individuals and between 150–200 unidentified persons. “Three people have been arrested so far, including the main accused. One of the three is a minor,” he added.

Superstition-driven killing in Tetma village

The incident occurred in Tetma village, under the jurisdiction of Muffasil Police Station. According to DIG (Purnea) Pramod Kumar Mandal, the victims: Sita Devi, Kali, Rani Devi, Babu Lal, and Manjeet Ram, were suspected by locals of practising black magic, allegedly linked to the recent death of a child in the area.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were brutally beaten to death in front of 30–40 villagers, after which their bodies were taken by tractor to a nearby bush and set on fire.

A police official confirmed, “It is suspected that the boy recently died in the village due to their black magic. It is being further investigated. All deceased belonged to a particular tribe.”

Investigation and forensics underway

Senior police officials, forensic experts, and a dog squad have inspected the crime scene. More arrests are expected as the probe continues. Authorities are also examining whether the attack was premeditated and who orchestrated the crowd violence.

Political reactions: Opposition slams Nitish Kumar government

The gruesome incident has triggered widespread outrage among opposition parties, who have targeted the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over the deteriorating law and order situation.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, listed a number of other murders that have taken place in Bihar recently.

"Five members of a family were killed and burnt. Due to DK Tax, anarchy is at its peak in Bihar. DGP/Chief Secretary are helpless. Law and order situation has completely collapsed in the state," the RJD leader said in a post in Hindi on X.

Yadav referred to several other recent killings in the state, including massacres in Siwan, Buxar, and Bhojpur. Though he often references “DK Tax” in his criticism, he has not publicly clarified what or whom it refers to.

Independent MP from Purnea Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav) called the killings "shameful", writing on X, "I am ashamed. The world has reached Mars and our people are indulging in massacres on the suspicion of witchcraft!"

Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar condemned the incident.

He said, "I must say that people, especially the poor, Dalits and socially marginalised are not safe in the state. This is called jungle-raaj. What happened to the chief minister? Why is he maintaining a stoic silence over the patheich law and order situation in the state?

CPI(ML) Liberation's Bihar State Secretary Kunal also condemned the killings in Purnea.

"It's a shocking incident and this shows the collapsed law and order situation in the state. Leaders of NDA parties are anti-Dalit and anti-poor. People will give them a befitting reply in the coming assembly polls," he said.

(with PTI, ANI inputs)