Five women accused of witchcraft lynched by India mob
Five women accused of witchcraft lynched by India mob
Villagers drag middle-aged women from their huts and beat them to death around midnight in eastern Jharkhand state.
Belief in witchcraft and the occult remains widespread in some parts of India [AP]
Villagers in a rural part of eastern India have killed five women whom they accused of practising witchcraft, police have said. Police in eastern Jharkhand state said on Saturday that a group of assailants dragged the women out of their huts and beat them to death at around midnight on Friday in their village, some 30km from the state capital, Ranchi.
"A group [of villagers] dragged the women out and beat them to death with sticks, accusing them of practising witchcraft," Ranchi deputy police chief Arun Kumar Singh told the AFP news agency by phone.
At least 21 villagers have been arrested over the killings of the women, who were mostly aged between 45 and 50.
"Aishwarya Devi named four other women. Some of the villagers beat those five women to death. So far, we have arrested 21 people in the case," said Singh.
In yet another barbaric incident related to superstition in the tribal state, the villages alleged that those five women had killed a boy through their black magic. "A boy died in the village a week ago. Allegation was levelled against a woman that she killed the boy through witchcraft," Singh said.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/women-accused-witchcraft-lynched-india-mob-150808111054841.html
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