Nepalese Woman Burned Alive as a ‘Witch’
After the earlier death of a boy, a 40-year-old woman was accused of practicing witchcraft, beaten, and burned alive by a mob of villagers.
The incident took place on Friday in a small village located about 50 miles from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. As reported by CNN, Dhegani Mahato had just finished cleaning a shed when a group of 10 people appeared. The woman was beaten with stones and sticks. Gopal Bhandari, a police superintendent in Chitwan district was quoted by 9 News as saying,
They poured kerosene and threw straw over her and then set fire to her. No one came to her rescue. By the time we heard about it, she had already died.
The death was witnessed by the victim’s nine-year-old daughter.
The mob sought the woman out after a shaman told others Mahato was a witch and was responsible for the death of a boy who drowned in a river about a year ago.