For 40-year-old Bahura Bai it began as these things often do in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. First, a village girl she had affectionately caressed in the marketplace fell sick. Then, a year later, her brother-in-law developed an ailment.
That was all it took for some local shamans and village leaders to brand Bai a witch. The threats and abuse from her family and community began instantly.
"It got worse in November last year, when my brother-in-law and other relatives attempted to choke me," she explains from inside her mud and brick home. "They want to kill me. They believe I'm a sorcerer. In prayers, I ask my goddess every morning, 'am I really?'''
"If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me," she continues, before urging me to leave in case my presence angers the villagers and inspires reprisals.
"The village heads don't want the police or media meddling. They say it's an internal affair of the village," she explains. More + photos...
Related posts:
That was all it took for some local shamans and village leaders to brand Bai a witch. The threats and abuse from her family and community began instantly.
"It got worse in November last year, when my brother-in-law and other relatives attempted to choke me," she explains from inside her mud and brick home. "They want to kill me. They believe I'm a sorcerer. In prayers, I ask my goddess every morning, 'am I really?'''
"If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me," she continues, before urging me to leave in case my presence angers the villagers and inspires reprisals.
"The village heads don't want the police or media meddling. They say it's an internal affair of the village," she explains. More + photos...
Related posts:
- 210 women tortured to death for 'witchcraft' in Chhattisgarh, many await justice...
- Indian athlete Debjani Bora beaten in 'witch hunt'
- India woman killed in 'witch hunt'
- Woman in India branded witch, beaten to death...
- 'Witches' of India suffer agonies of superstition...
- Nepal woman attacked as "witch", stripped naked, forced to eat excrement...
- India: 3 young men beat mother to death in exorcism ritual...
- Cultural killings of women in India: perpetrators seldom punished as society...
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