Superstitious beliefs in sorcery led to the caning of a couple by a group of villagers who also confined them in a room before the police rescued them after being alerted by the son of a local politician.
The incident happened at Kolkur village in Sadashivapet mandal of Sangareddy on Saturday. The couple has now left the village out of fear of another attack on them despite the police rescuing them. Muttangi Yadaiah and his wife Amurthamma were called by the villagers stating that they were practicing sorcery leading to health issues for their neighbours.
Later, the husband and wife were tied upside down to a tree and beaten up black and blue in broad daylight while villagers recorded the incident in their mobiles. Some villagers tried to object but they were also warned. The couple were later locked up in the Panchayat office.
Though the incident happened in the morning, the information reached the police late as the locals were warned by those accused in the incident of dire consequences if the issue went public. Soon after knowing the incident, police rushed to the spot and rescued the couple from the Panchayat office.
They were shifted to the hospital at Sadashivapet. Police reportedly told them not to return to the village and find shelter at some place till the heat subsided. Shyamala, another woman from the same community, was also targeted by the attackers but luckily she escaped.
The couple who are now staying at Rallagudipalli village in Mominpet mandal of Vikarabad district denied that they were practicing sorcery. “We are innocent and do not know why we are branded as sorcery practitioners. With the police’s advice, we left our house and farmland behind. We do not know when we will be able to return to our village,” Yadaiah told The Hindu from the village where he took shelter along with his wife and two daughters Sumitra and Sumalatha. Sumitra is physically disabled.
“All the accused are Yadaiah’s neighbours and also related. They also have some disputes. We have registered cases against eight persons in this regard,” Sadashivapet Circle Inspector K. Naveen Kumar told The Hindu. Kula Vivaksh Vyatireka Porata Samithi (KVPS) district president A. Manick consoled the couple and demanded the authorities to take action against those responsible.
