In a seemingly bizarre incident, a woman home guard in Bahraich district has been placed under suspension for allegedly practising witchcraft at the residence of the district magistrate, Pinky Jowel.
The district magistrate, also a woman, reportedly got suspicious when she found yellow mustard seeds scattered in her bedroom.
In a show-cause notice issued to the home guard, Mithilesh Saini, the latter has been asked to explain why she put a line of yellow mustard seeds on her bed. The notice accuses Ms Saini of using the seeds for practising black magic on the district magistrate.
After the incident took place, Ms Jowel got a Hindu priest to perform a “yagya” in the bedroom as a purification ritual to ward off the suspected evil effects of the witchcraft. Ram Darshan Misra, the priest who performed the ritual told reporters in Bahraich, “I did perform a yagya to ensure that the district magistrate remained safe from all evil effects of whatever witchcraft was carried out in her residence.”