HOW RUSSIAN PEASANTS KILLED A WITCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 551, 25 August 1880, Page 2

HOW RUSSIAN PEASANTS KILLED A WITCH.

(From the Penza Provincial Journal)

In the village of Mordoviky Paroklired a poor woman, Agraphena Ohindavkina, known among the village population as a witch. This opinion she rather encouraged than otherwise, reaping substantial profits from her alleged witchcraft. In order to keep up her.dangerous reputa- ■ tion, Agraphena, from time to time, appeared at midnight, her hair diahsrelled, and in a white dress, walking in the streets, and even entering the ywdi of the peasants. In the night.of May 3rd she was discovered in the cellar of one of her neighbors. Enraged at the thought of the troubles that might ensue from her visit, he furiously assaulted her, grasping ■ her by the hair, and beating her meroi- ■■' leasly with a fence stake, whieh is p opil . larly held to be the only effective weapon against witches and socrerers. The members of the family rushed out of the) house, at his outcry, and took an active part in the chastisement of the witch. They drafged her by her hair oyer the ground, and inflicted numberless blows with sticks. Then th« neighbors, aroused by the confusion, appeared on the scene. In order to prevent the witch from teriously vanishing, the peasants tied her firmly to a pillar with old reins, which according to the current notions, witches are unable to loosen. The husband of the_ woman and her father-in-law used their.utmost efforts to pacify the villagers and save her life. But all was in vain. The enraged populace shouted, " Beat her squarely; break" her arms and legs I" and the beating waß resumed with increased ferocity. At last the locaL authorities made their appearance and put - an end to the savage work, but it was too late to save the life.of Agraphena. When untied from the pillar, she fell on the ground, a lifieless corpse.