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In the comfort of our urban homes, we feel quite secure and immune from various ills that pervades our villages. However, media coverage of what is happening in the deep hinterland of Indian villages is enough to send a chill down your spine. I witnessed one such incident today.

Suspecting a woman of practising black magic, a villager mercilessly beat up the woman faith healer and tonsured her head in Bihar. He then tonsured her head and smeared her face with limestone.

45-year-old Lalpari Devi of a village near Patna had on Thursday gone to Adalchak village for treating one Manorama Rai, who was suffering from a mental ailment. As Manorama’s condition deteriorated during treatment, her husband Ramayodhya Rai got angry with Lalpari and tied her to a tree with the support of his neighbours and mercilessly beat her up. He did this in front of full media coverage.

The saving grace is that the Police soon reached the scene and rescued the woman. She was admitted to a hospital and later discharged today. Police lodged an FIR and have arrested Ramayodhya Rai.

Instead of my telling you how shocking this incident was, just watch this video:

A majority of Indians in villages still believe in superstitions. They prefer a magical cure to a proper medical one. The end result in most cases is suffering. We need to do immense work on education front to bring awareness among masses about these quack cures and their ill effects. Further, we also need to do something to ensure that women are not mistreated like this in India. I hope that the state Government of Bihar will do something tangible on this issue. Bihar has become a notorious state for such incidents of mass justice. People are routinely taking laws in their hand here. It is not a good omen for the Indian society as it not only reflects the backwardness of our society, it is also an indication of their growing mistrust on our judicial system. The society will crumble if people start taking law in their hand for settling their scores.

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