Villagers in tribal central India have allegedly beaten 50 women with sticks and cut off their hair after accusing them of witchcraft

[Amby 490]

A spiritual man told the villagers the assaults would protect them from evil spirits, police said.

The alleged attacks happened at a forest in a poor district of Chhattisgarh state, 250 miles from the capital Raipur.

Dozens of women are killed every year on suspicion of being witches or witch doctors in India.

Superstition is widespread, especially in rural areas that lack an effective schooling system.

While there are few killings in Chhattisgarh, more than 100 women are tortured, paraded naked or harassed in the state annually, officials said.

"Police have begun a probe and interrogated dozens of villagers who hosted a nine-day purification ceremony," Radheshyam Nayak, a senior state police officer said.

The state passed a Witchcraft (Prevention) Act in 2005 to counter a rise in witch hunts.

Offenders face jail terms of up to five years but many cases are still reported.

Chhattisgarh's Chief Minister Raman Singh called the latest assault "inhuman, unfortunate and shameful".

He has asked the state's police chief to investigate the case, a statement said.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-New...attisgarh_state

[Nagishkaw 510]

A beating is one thing, but to cut their hair is just wrong!

[Jasman0717 9]

Didn't this just happen a few hundred years ago