RAJBIRAJ: Women in various villages of Saptari district say that they have been constantly tagged as “witches” by the perpetrators as the police have been a failure to take action against the culprits.

They lament that the police, despite receiving complaints for meting out torture and inhuman acts on the helpless women, always try to settle the case through mutual agreement instead of taking action against the offenders.

Pramila Devi Ram of Parsahi Tole in Koiladi Madhepura- 6 says that she has been frequently tortured by some locals, who accuse her of practicing the witchcraft, for the last one-and-a-half year. The absence of male members, including her husband, who are in the foreign lands for employment, has encouraged the locals to frequently abuse her.

“I filed complaints several times in the area police office Hanumannagar, but the police tried to settle the dispute each time through mutual agreement. So, the problem, instead of being stopped, has been recurring,” she says.

According to her, the local people Satya Narayan Ram and Bolaki Ram had even assaulted her accusing that she used her witchcraft to earn money after her economic status improved due to the income of the male members. Situation of Shila Devi Mandal of Chakala Tole in Mahadeva-3 is not that different. According to her, Dhanaraj Mandal and his wife had badly thrashed her, besides inflicting a mental trauma. “Not only they tortured me, they also hindered my daughter’s marriage saying that “the mother of the bride is a witch”.”

She also alleged that the inaction of police to take action against the perpetrators was fuelling such violence against helpless women in the village areas.

Several other women, like the two, chastised the police for letting the culprits scot-free despite such frequent complaints.

The police post at Hanumannagar, however, has denied having such complaints. “It’s difficult to take action against the culprits as the women just share their grievances with journalists and human rights organisations only,” said a police officer.

Jayaram Sapkota, police inspector at DPO Saptari, said the victims were afraid of filing the case fearing the reprisal. “So much so, they even fear to record their statement even if they file the complaint,” he asserted.

According to the DPO data, it received just a single complaint related to such torture on women this year while two such cases were registered in the last year.