In a gory and bizarre incident of superstition-induced matricide, two brothers allegedly beat their elderly mother to death in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on instructions of a female tantric who claimed the sacrifice would bring them luck.
Despite the State government passing the Anti-Superstition Act in December last year, the murder of 65-year-old Budhabai Dore is a disturbing reminder of rationality’s tenuous hold over the swathes of rural Maharashtra, especially the tribal-dominated tehsil of Trimbakeshwar in Nashik where the crime occurred.
The incident, which took place on the intervening night of October 30 and 31, has only recently come to light with the discovery of the bodies of Budhabai and her 80-year-old relative Kashibai Veer in the village of Takeharsh in Trimbakeshwar.
Perpetrators held
The rural police have arrested 10 persons, including the brothers, in connection with the murder and booked them under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
According to them, the brothers - Kashinath and Govind Dore - unhappy with their material circumstances, approached a black magic practitioner, Bachchibai Khadke. The occultist told the brothers that their mother and her sister were possessed of evil spirits that ought to be exorcised if they wanted to better their living conditions.
Both brothers worked as daily wage labourers.
“On Bachchibai’s advice, the brothers brought their mother Budhabai and their aunt, Rahibai Pingle. The old Kashibai Veer was also present there. Suddenly, the tantric woman, along with the brothers started beating all three women, killing Budhabai and Kashibai,” said Sanjay Mohite, District Superintendent of Police, Nashik (rural).
Bachchibai later removed the dead Budhabai’s eyes, but Rahibai Pingle managed to escape from her clutches and fled the village. The brothers, on November 1, dumped their mother’s body in a nearby field along with that of Kashibai Veer’s.
“Rahibai later got in touch with an anti-superstition activist Bhagwan Madhe, who contacted us last week, leading to a manhunt and eventual discovery of the crime,” said Mr. Mohite.
“This shocking incident only goes to show that there is no serious effort on part of government agencies to root out superstition across the State. By the same logic, it is unsurprising there is no progress in anti-superstition crusader Dr. [Narendra] Dabholkar’s murder case,” said Avinash Patil, chairman, Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS).
