Note 61 — Chapter V · THE BLACK ART.
Reading edition
A milder form of treatment is to make the witch drink the filthy water of a washerman’s tank, which is believed to destroy her skill.61 The punishment in vogue in Central India was to make witches drink the water used by curriers, leather being, as we have seen, a scarer of evil spirits, and drinking such water involves degradation from caste. In more serious cases the witch’s nose was cut off, or she was put to death.62