Branded as witches, 3 women forced to drink urine in Bihar; 9 held

Three women in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district were allegedly forced to drink urine and their heads tonsured by a group of people who branded them as witches, following which nine people were arrested, police said on Tuesday. The arrests were made on Tuesday, a day after the incident took place, they said.

A video of the purported incident went viral on social media. Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also shared the video, 2.20 minutes long, on Twitter. "The incident occurred in Dakrama village of the district on Monday. Of the 10 people named in the FIR, nine were arrested," Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) (East) Amitesh Kumar said.

"Police are conducting raids to nab the remaining accused who had apparently tonsured the heads of the women," he said. Kumar said neither the victims nor the villagers informed the police about the incident.

"It is a very serious matter. Police acted swiftly and arrested nine people after it came to know about the incident from media," he said, adding that more details will be available after investigation. Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) (East) Kundan Kumar said, "Police will take action as per law after the probe." PTI AR RMS DIV DIV