RAJBIRAJ: A woman had to leave her village after the locals tortured her and vandalised her house accusing her of practicing witchcraft. Bacchidevi, 40, a resident of Saptari's Shambhu VDC 7- was forcefully thrown out of her village after she was accused of practising witchery.

The 40-year-old said that she had arrived at district headquarters Rajbiraj yesterday seeking justice after she had been attacked and harassed by the villagers. "Though I don't have a single clue about witchcraft, seven neighbours including Dayaram Sardar, Ramlagan Sardar, Jilebi Sardar tortured me and accused me of torching their houses by casting magic spells."

Bachhi also filed a case in the district police office Saptari against her neighbours yesterday.

Advocate Ram Kumar Yadav and human rights activist Janga Bahadur Singh have been assisting Bachhi on her case.

According to the villagers, the houses of the Sardars living in Sakhuwatol in Shambhunath-7 had been caught fire every 2-4 days. The villagers said the Sardars had at first collected donations and performed poojas to get rid of the evil spirits from the house but later accused Bachhi as nothing had happened after the poojas.

Meanwhile, Bachhi's husband Kusumlal said that the irate neighbours had acted on the directions of the shamans of the village, Kusum Yadav and Balak Chaudhary.

"After the shamans said that my wife was causing all of this to happen, the villagers pressured my wife to leave the village," Kusumlal added. We are investigating into the incident, District Police Office said.