W50 javelin champion branded as a ‘witch’ in India, flees attack

Dorothy from Kansas would have been toast had the WW of the W carried a 600mg javelin.

India’s news media are going crazy over a crime report involving a W50 national champion javelin thrower who was attacked as a “witch.” The gold medalist in question is Debajani Bora. She appears to be OK, but the news (if true, since Indian press accounts can be flaky) is startling. The best report says: “Bora (51), a javelin thrower, who had won a gold medal in the 2011 national masters in Haryana, was targeted by villagers allegedly at the instigation of the Naamgharia (head of a religious prayer hall). Police said the Naamgharia had branded her as a witch and instigated people to torture her. ‘Yesterday (Wednesday), the family of the athlete registered a complaint at Dokmoka police station in the district. Based on the complaint, we have arrested Naamgharia Radha Laskar and a probe is on,’ said Karbi Anglong Superintendent of Police M.J. Mahanta. Police said the Naamgharia organised some prayers in the Naamghar (the prayer hall) in her village Monday. ‘As the prayer was on, Laskar caught hold of Debajani and started beating her. He also instigated other villagers to hold her and beat her,’ said police.”

More from Indian news media:

Two persons were arrested on Thursday for allegedly branding a veteran woman athlete Debajani Bora (51) a “witch” and torturing her in a Naamghar traditional prayer house in the Serekali village of central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. Ms. Bora is the winner of several medals including gold medals in Veteran Masters Athletics meets held in Chennai, Haryana, Punjab.

Mugdhajyoti Mahanta, Superintendent of Police, Karbi Anglong, told The Hindu that the two arrested were Radha Laskar, a priest, and his accomplice Biswa Medhi. “The Naamghoria [priest] attacked Debajani Bora and pinned her to the ground as his accomplice threw a fishing net upon her. The victim wriggled out of their clutches and reached home. She lodged an FIR on Wednesday evening, following which we arrested the two persons.”

Bora, however, managed to escape from the spot.

‘The Naamgharia told the villagers that she practises witch craft and that it is because of her that the villagers are suffering,’ Mahanta said.

The practice of witch hunting is common among some communities in Assam. Several people, mostly women, are being tortured and even killed every year in Assam in the name of witch craft.