Claiming to have supernatural powers to drive away evil spirits, the headwoman of a village in Punjab's Moga district allegedly tortured a 10-year-old girl to death, police said Thursday
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The victim was hit with red-hot tongs (chimta) in the presence of a tantrik and other villagers Wednesday night.
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The Bhinder Kalan village headwoman, Pal Kaur, her husband and the tantrik have been arrested following the death of Veerpal Kaur, resident of an adjoining village.
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Veerpal was brought to the village headwoman by her father as she remained unwell and doctors had not been able to cure her, a police official said.
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"The sarpanch told her father that Veerpal was possessed by evil spirits and she (sarpanch) could rid her of that," the police official said.
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Police have arrested the trio and charged them with murder.
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Moga is about 180 km from Chandigarh.
