The killing of Salo Devi

After a one and a half-year-old girl child of a labourer in Nagar-Chadri village in Gumla fell ill, fellow villagers suspected the old lady Salo Devi, aged 58 years and held her responsible. On Saturday night of June 24, 2023, just an hour earlier at around 9 pm, the mother of the ailing child threatened the victim of facing dire consequences for practicing witchcraft.

Around 8-10 people knocked on the door of Salo Devi and took her son for consuming liquor on Saturday night. While her son was away, a few villagers dragged the victim out of her home while she was having dinner at 10:30 pm and started beating her with bamboo sticks, boots and punches leaving her seriously injured. When her husband Ahlad Lohra, sister Sabita Kumari and sister-in-law Laxmi Kumari came to her rescue, they were also beaten up and injured by the villagers.

Police rescued Salo Devi and rushed her to the nearby Referral Hospital at Sisai, where she was declared brought dead.