Raipur: In yet another incident of "witch hunting" in Chhattisgarh, a 45-year-old woman and her husband were attacked by a group of villagers who pierced the couple's eyes with scissors, police said on Saturday. Ten people have been arrested.
The couple have been admitted to a local hospital where doctors said they would probably not regain their sight as their eyes had been deeply penetrated.
The attack took place on Friday at Khaira village in Raipur district, some 125 km from here, police said.
According to SS Baghel, inspector in-charge of Kasdol police station, the attack was carried out by members of a family who blamed the woman, Shayam Kunwar, for their economic and health problems.
"They alleged that the woman was practicing witchcraft, which had led to their problems. They raided her house on Friday morning, beat her up and thrust a scissor in her eyes," Baghel said.
"When her husband Mansharam Banjare tried to stop them and protect her, they treated him the same way," he added.
One of the attackers has absconded.
Attacks against women for alleged witchcraft have been a persistent problem in Chhattisgarh's interior villages.
The state Assembly passed the Witchcraft (Prevention) Act in 2005 with stringent provisions against offenders.
But the act has hardly made any impact in tribal areas where atrocities against women in name of witchcraft still continue and majority of the cases remain unreported.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 15:19