A woman was stripped and publicly assaulted by villagers in Banitia village of Odisha's Bhadrak district on September 25 over witchcraft suspicions, police said on Thursday.
Bhadrak Rural police registered a case against six people, including two women, and are searching for the suspects after the victim lodged a formal complaint on Wednesday.
The incident comes amid the Odisha government's proposed State Policy for Witch-Hunting (Prevention, Protection and Prosecution), 2026, aimed at faster legal proceedings and immediate victim rescue.