A 77-year-old woman in a village in India was attacked on December 30th. She was beaten, made to drink urine, and branded with an iron rod. This happened because some people thought she was practicing black magic. Her son and daughter-in-law had already made a police report earlier in the month and then went to higher officials on Friday asking for more help with the case.
The police said they did receive the complaint about the assault. They confirmed the woman was attacked because they thought she was involved in black magic. The police don’t know who did it and no one has been arrested yet. The family reaching out to senior officials after their initial report suggests they might not be happy with how the local police handled things so far.
This event shows that beliefs in witchcraft and black magic still exist in some rural areas. The woman went through serious physical harm like being beaten and branded plus the humiliation of being forced to drink urine. This case shows how these beliefs can lead to violence and abuse, especially against older people and how more needs to be done to protect people with social and legal safeguards.