A court in Odisha’s Gajapati on Thursday sentenced 12 men to life imprisonment for murdering a father and his son after a village council accused them of practising witchcraft in 2021, calling them cold-blooded and premeditated murders.
Convicts Found Guilty in Witchcraft-Related Murders
A court has convicted several individuals for the brutal killings of Luka Dalabehera and his son, which were motivated by accusations of witchcraft. Additional Sessions Judge Hara Prasad Pattanaik stated that the convicts acted with a deliberate intent to kill, believing the victims were responsible for harming fellow villagers through sorcery.
On June 12, 2021, the main accused, Josua Gamango, and others confronted Luka Dalabehera near his home, blaming him for alleged sorcery. A mob subsequently dragged him and his son to a field on the outskirts of their village, where they were beaten to death with stones and bamboo sticks.
The prosecution presented 23 witnesses and submitted various pieces of evidence during the trial. This ruling comes as the Odisha government is working on the Odisha State Policy for Witch-Hunting (Prevention, Protection and Prosecution), 2026, which aims to enhance victim protection and expedite legal processes in rural and tribal areas.
