The Jharkhand High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the ‘disturbing’ killings of five members of a family in the state, including a five-year-old child. The murders are reportedly done as a result of a witch-hunt. The bench of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad expressed displeasure over the case, saying that the evil of witchcraft still persists in modern civilized society.“It is not only shameful, but also raises a serious question on the entire system, how have such incidents happened in the present civilized society?” the bench stated.
The court has asked the state officials to file an affidavit clearly indicating the action they want to take so that such an incident can be avoided in the future.
The court has taken cognizance of the case on the basis of a report published by the Times of India, revealing that the village council of Buruhatu-Amatoli mountain sentenced five members of a family to death by declaring them ‘chudail’ was. After which they were murdered.
