NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An Indian woman accused of being a witch was tied
to a tree and beaten by a **** skinned mob, with television footage of the
incident aired in Stone Age India on Friday.
Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist
who filmed the beating called him Thursday to re****t the incident, which
took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state.
He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and
her
complexion ruddy from being being slapped. She had no serious injuries.
"I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially
responsible than to do this," Tiwari said.
Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring
her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on
Friday.
Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in
the
attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said.
Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's
health
Nishant Tiwari, a police official in northeastern India, said a journalist
who filmed the beating called him Thursday to re****t the incident, which
took place in the village of Dumaria in central eastern Bihar state.
He arrived to find the woman tied to a tree, her hair partially cut and
her
complexion ruddy from being being slapped. She had no serious injuries.
"I was appalled at what I saw because people should be more socially
responsible than to do this," Tiwari said.
Authorities arrested six people, including the man who admitted to hiring
her services as a witch. They were due to appear before a magistrate on
Friday.
Ram Ayodhya, who could face up to seven years in prison for his role in
the
attack, told police he was justified in beating the woman, Tiwari said.
Ayodhya said he paid her to use magic and prayer to improve his wife's
health.
When his wife's condition deteriorated, Ayodhya accused her of performing
black magic, Tiwari said, and a crowd soon gathered and tied her to the
tree.
The woman seen being attacked is expected to testify when the suspects
appear before the magistrate.
Tiwari said he was disturbed by the fact that a journalist filmed the
incident before contacting authorities.
"The media filmed the incident, then called the police -- instead of the
police first," Tiwari said.
CNN's partner network, CNN-IBN, re****ted that the incident took place
close
to the local police station.
It re****ted that there had been other such occurrences of mob justice in
the
state.
In Bhagalpur district in August 2007, a man caught trying to snatch a
woman's chain was beaten up, with police looking on, and later tied to a
motorcycle and dragged around by a police officer.
In September, in Lucknow's Wazirganj area, an angry mob beat a man to
death
after a two-and-a-half-year old girl was allegedly found ***ually
assaulted
and murdered in his house
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/india.beating/index.html
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