Badin: A pregnant woman was murdered after being subjected to brutal batteries in the course of five days, in the name of an exorcism. Although the alleged murderers are in police custody, a case has not yet registered.
The tragic incident occurred in the village of Khuda Bakhsh Hisbani, near the city of Malkani Sharif on Monday.
The victim, Sangita Kolhi, 30, was delivered to Bachu Kolhi and Harsan Kolhi, known as Bhopa (Dr. de Brujas) in the local language, by her husband’s family Haresh Kolhi.
They believed that she had been possessed by an evil spirit. The two Bhopas carried out what they said was the prescribed procedure for the woman ‘possessed’ in a temple just in front of the victim’s house.
In the end it turned out that the ‘procedure’ involved violent methods, including hair blows and beatings with fists and sticks, which continued for five days and nights. Sangita finally succumbed to violence at some point on Sunday night, said her family.
Upon hearing his death, family members and neighbors rushed to the temple, but the Bhopas did not yield until someone informed the police, who arrived and arrested them on the scene.
The victim’s father, Vishram, Brother Ashok and the mother said Sangita had good health before the test. They said they had come from Jhuddo to meet her, but the Bhopas did not allow them to interact. They affirmed that he would disturb the “exorcism” and told his family that they could see her in the morning.
The members of his family stayed in a nearby village, since they wanted to recover Sangita when they received news from their death.
The neighbors told the media that they had been listening to Sangita’s screams for five consecutive nights and could not sleep. They affirmed that he was possessed by a spirit and the bhopas were trying to free her from him.
They said she had been married for six years, but that she had no children. However, she was pregnant at the time of her death.
The victim’s body was taken to the Tando Bago hospital for postmortem before being delivered to his family, who returned with his village, Chang Mori, in Jhuddo.
The assistant sub -inspector Ali Memon of the Pangrio Police Station said that the police arrived at the crime scene after receiving information, arrested the body and arrested the two suspects.
Sho Manzoor Nahriyo said that an autopsy had been carried out and a case had been recorded after the family was advanced to file a formal complaint.
Posted in Dawn, January 28, 2025
