According to Ambika Mudbari, a female leader associated with UCPN-Maoists, though the media has been raising the issue of witchcraft allegations, those who actually plot the misfortune for innocent women are simply spared. [break]
“The culprits are not meted with punishment fitting their crime. Such people will repeat the same mistake again. They should be kept in jail for lifetime,” she said. According to Mudbari, even before Mahato, 11 women have suffered similar ordeals after being accused of practicing witchcraft. “Curbing the problem is not going to be easy as the superstition among people is deep rooted,” she said.
Similarly, advocate Fulmaya Ranabhat said that the main accused in Mahato´s case, witchdoctor Jogeshwori, was detained by the police 15 days ago. But he was freed under pressure from local people. “Going by the law, he should have been imprisoned for 2 years. But he was freed under public pressure,” she said.
Sarita KC, a congress leader, who visited Madi after the incident said that she was taken aback on hearing locals speak in support of a person like Jogeshwori. “They were saying that it was good that a witch was finished off,” KC said, adding that the culprits were certain to elude punishment under such scenario.
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