A 70-year-old woman in Jharkhand was branded a witch and one of her eyes pierced with a needle at the instance of a schoolteacher, police here said.
According to police, Thakni Oraon, a resident of Nagara village in Ranchi district was beaten up after schoolteacher Rojan Topno alleged that the old woman wanted to kill her and eat her heart.
Topno's brother and other villagers blinded Oraon in one eye with a needle, police said.
The relatives of the old woman had fled fearing the villagers' wrath but managed to lodge a police complaint Monday afternoon. Three people, including Topno, have been arrested.
Oraon is undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS). But doctors are not sure if she will regain her eyesight.
Superstition leads to many women being branded as witches in the state. In the last 10 years, over 700 women have died in this manner in Jharkhand.