Teen claiming to be goddess, 19 villagers held for burning couple over witchcraft suspicion

Guwahati: A teenager who claimed to be “goddess Durga” and 19 other villagers of No 1 Belguri Mundagaon were arrested in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district for killing a couple accused of practising “witchcraft”, police said on Saturday.A total of 20 people, including 4 women, were arrested in connection with the incident in the last 24 hours. Police said the couple was assaulted and burned alive on Dec 30. Villagers alleged they acted on the instructions of the teenage girl, who accused the couple of practising witchcraft.Six of the arrested were interrogated in police custody on Saturday, while a special court in Karbi Anglong sent the remaining 14 people to judicial custody on Friday evening.“The girl (18), who claims to be Durga, is in police custody and is being interrogated,” a police official said.Most of the villagers of No. 1 Belguri Mundagaon fled after the police initiated an investigation. The Adivasi-inhabited village, with a population of about 180 people, is now almost deserted.The accused were charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, arson, and under the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015, police said.Assam IGP (law and order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh said, “In today’s society, such atrocities on suspicion of practising witchcraft cannot be tolerated. After collecting evidence, the police arrested these people. More arrests are likely if we get evidence.”Villagers blamed the couple for causing them harm through “evil practices”. They believed goddess Durga entered the teenager’s body after Diwali, and she accused the couple of practicing “witchcraft” to harm villagers.After the couple was assaulted with iron rods, the attackers, led by the teenager, allegedly pushed 43-year-old Gardi Beruwa and his wife Mira, 33, into a fire that the mob had started in the couple’s courtyard. Police reached the spot only after everything had turned to ash.Several villagers admitted to the media to killing the couple as a consensus decision and having no regrets.A woman said, “Durga Maa and villagers first took them to the temple, and then they were beaten on the road. Durga Maa was not allowing us to kill them there. Then the couple was brought to their home. The public set them on fire while they were alive.”Another villager said they could feel “ominous activities” and were unable to sleep at night while another woman blamed the couple for plaguing the village with diseases.