Darji is still in shock and undergoing medical treatment after a brutal beating by her relatives, who accused her of being a witch or “boksi” in the Nepalese language. They blamed her for using black magic to make a young girl ill in Myagdi district, 400km south of the capital, Kathmandu. “She was severely beaten with logs so that her witch’s spell would leave the girl’s body,” said a local teacher, Man Bahadur Pariyar, who with other villagers helped to rescue 60-year-old Darji and took her to the local health centre. “This should not be tolerated. It is time we realised this witch-craft is ridiculous and primitive,” said Pariyar. Women’s rights activists have been battling for decades to end this form of gender violence but the problem persists, especially in the Terai region, the southern fertile plains of the country, they say. “We are still shocked to find the incidence of women being subject to the worst form of violence – both physical and mental – at the hands of their families and local communities,” said activist Bandana Rana.
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