14 arrested for tonsuring villagers for not following rituals

Fourteen of the 26 people charged with forcibly tonsuring the heads of nine men and trimming the nails of seven women in Jharkhand's Seraikela- Kharsawan district have been arrested, police said Tuesday.

The arrested persons include the gram pradhan Vikash Satpathi. They were produced before a local court, which send them to 14 days judicial custody on Monday, said Rajnagar police station, In-charge, Jitendra Kumar Singh.

Raids were on to nab the rest accused, he said.

An FIR was filed on the complaint of one of the victims, Sushila Mahato, under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongfully restraining any person) and Prevention of Witchcraft Act, the police officer said.

According to the FIR, the victims had refused to perform the rituals themselves following the death of a fellow villager and were forcibly tonsured and the nails of the women were trimmed on May 23 at Chhota Krishnapur village.

Mahato, however, claimed that the accused did this as they