Woman murdered on suspicion of witchcraft in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum
Chaibasa (PTI): A 59-year-old woman was allegedly murdered over suspicion of practising witchcraft in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, police said on Saturday.
Sonua Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Shashi Bala Bhengra, told PTI that the decomposed body of 59-year-old Jamuna Purty was found on Friday near a culvert at Balijuri village.
"Sanatan Purty, the eldest son of the victim who works in Chennai and had returned after getting information about his mother missing from home, has alleged that his mother was murdered by a few villagers on accusation of practising witchcraft. He has alleged that whenever someone died in the village, her mother was accused of practising witchcraft on the deceased," the police officer said.
Bhengra said that on Tuesday, the daughter-in-law of the victim, Sukhmati Purty, had lodged an FIR in the police station against unidentified persons for abducting her mother-in-law.
"The victim used to stay in Balijuri village with her youngest son, Shiv Kumar Purty, eldest daughter-in-law Sukhmati Purty and daughter Suryamani Kunkal. As per the FIR, the victim went missing from her house on Sunday night. The family searched for her but could not find her and lodged an FIR on Tuesday. They also informed the deceased's eldest son, Sanatan Purty, and he returned home from Chennai on Thursday. The body was recovered on Friday," the police officer said.
"Seeing the decomposed body, it appears that she was murdered with sharp weapons nearly five days back. However, things will be clear after the post-mortem report," said Bhengra.
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At 44.2 degrees Celsius, Akola sees day's highest temperature in India; parts of Maharashtra sizzle
Nagpur/Mumbai (PTI): Parts of Maharashtra are reeling under intense heat, with Akola city in the Vidarbha region recording the maximum temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the highest in the country for the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Along with Akola, three other cities in the state - Amravati (44), Wardha (43.9) and Nagpur (43.4) - occupied the top four spots in the country in terms of the highest maximum temperature for the day, it said.
Officials said mercury levels are set to go up and heatwave conditions will prevail over most districts of Vidarbha.
Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh was also at the fourth place with 43.4 degrees Celsius, as per the information provided by the IMD's Nagpur centre.
These places were followed by Solapur, which saw the maximum temperature of 43.3 degree Celsius, Malegaon (in Nashik) 43.2 and Beed in Maharashtra 43.1 degrees Celsius, all in Maharashtra.
Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius and Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh saw 43 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
Talking to PTI, Dr Praveen Kumar, a scientist at the IMD's Nagpur centre, said Akola has been recording the highest maximum temperature in the country since the last two-three days.
The IMD issued a warning that heatwave conditions are likely to develop in Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Washim, Buldhana, Chandrapur and Bhandara districts of Vidarbha in the next five days, he said.
"In the coming four to five days, there will be no respite from the heat and temperatures will continue to rise in Vidarbha. The reason is that there is an anti-cyclonic circulation existing at the height of 3.1 km and above from the mean sea level over Maharashtra and adjoining area," Kumar said.
As per the IMD's predictions, the maximum temperature is expected to go down from April 21, according to him.
The district administration of Wardha has directed all the schools to remain shut on Thursday in view of the extreme heat.
Most parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada also witnessed the temperature soaring above 40 degrees Celsius.
Sangli recorded 41.8 degrees Celsius, Baramati 40.2, Parbhani 42, Jalgaon 42.3, Ahilyanagar 41.9, Dharashiv 41 and Satara 40 degrees Celsius, it said.
Although the temperature in coastal districts of the state was below 40 degrees Celsius, humidity coupled with heat added to people's woes.
Ratnagiri recorded 32.8 degrees Celsius, Santacruz observatory in Mumbai (suburbs) 34.5 degrees Celsius, Colaba observatory of Mumbai (island city) recorded 34.2 degrees Celsius.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert with hot and humid conditions for the coastal districts of Palghar, Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg.
A yellow alert with a heatwave warning has also been issued for Sangli, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Akola, Amravati and Wardha.
The IMD grades the severity of any weather system through colour-coded alerts - green (no warning), yellow (be aware), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).
Meanwhile, an expert from Vasantrao Naik Agriculture University in Parbhani told PTI that the heat wave conditions will continue to prevail in parts of the Marathwada region, comprising eight districts, for the next 48 to 72 hours.
The temperature here can go up by 4 to 5 degrees during this period, he said.
"When the temperature rises up by around 4.5 degrees Celsius, it is considered a heat wave. Such a rise in temperature is most likely to be recorded in 4-5 districts of Marathwada," agrometeorologist Kailas Dakhore told PTI.
An alert has been issued by the government agencies about this weather change. People in Nanded district have been advised not to step out of homes during afternoon hours unless it is very necessary, another official said.
