A witch doctor has been arrested on charge of attacking a woman with hot metallic spatula to treat her.
Sharmila BK, 37, of Panchkhal municipality 9, Kavre fell ill Friday. Her husband called Ishwori Thapa, 19, of Panchkhal-12 for her treatment, according to BK's younger brother Deepak Rasaili. Thapa heated a metallic spatula and attacked BK on her cheek and other parts of body to treat her deeming that she was possessed with evil spirits.
Rasaili said BK's son phoned his family after the incident and he and others went to BK's home and took her first to Dhulikhel Hospital and then to Kathmandu after finding that she was not treated for the burns.
A police complaint was also lodged against Thapa on Saturday who has since been arrested. "The perpetrator's house was apparently near the victim's. The complaint mentions that Thapa asked to heat the spatula and attacked BK saying she has treated many such cases after BK started to shout and tremble in frenzy at around six Friday evening," DPS with Kavre Police Kumar Bikram Thapa told Setopati.
Thapa, who has been known as a witch doctor for the past one and a half years, claims that she attacked with spatula under pressure from the victim's family while the family alleges that Thapa had prescribed the treatment, according to DSP Thapa.
Rasaili says BK remembers nothing about what happened when she was in a fit.
BK's family says she had a history of such fits and was on medication for depression for the past two years. Her husband was abroad for employment and her parents had got her treated. Her husband had returned home last year.
Her condition was improving after starting depression medication and such fits had become rarer and less intense.
Her husband had summoned the witch doctor after BK's condition did not improve even after taking medicines on Friday.
