HC raps Gumla SP for inaction in woman assault case

Ranchi: The Jharkhand high court on Wednesday slammed the Gumla superintendent of police for not taking action in a case where a woman was assaulted by villagers in Gumla and branded a witch.The court was hearing a petition filed by Chandramani Urain, who moved the HC to trace her daughter who went missing in 2019. She also informed the court that her co-villagers assaulted her and branded her a witch.Besides rapping the police, the court also ordered the Jharkhand Legal Services Authority to send a team to Gumla to help Urain tide over difficulties faced in the village. The case will again be heard on Feb 12.The court of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai further directed the police to trace the minor girl and also her Aadhaar card. The court ordered the petitioner to make the UIDAI director a party in the case.Urain lodged an FIR in 2019 after her six-year-old daughter went missing from the village. However, since no significant action was taken by the police to recover her, Urain filed a petition for habeas corpus before the HC on Sept 4, 2025, stating that her daughter is a victim of human trafficking.