Elderly woman hacked to death over witchcraft suspicion in Jharkhand’s Gumla; one arrested

Ranchi (Jharkhand): A 62-year-old woman was allegedly murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, police said on Friday.

The killing occurred on Wednesday in Baghima Ambatoli village under the Palkot Police Station limits. According to police, two men attacked the woman while she was on her way to attend a marriage ceremony at Pandrapani here.

“Mangari Devi was hacked to death around 11.30 am on Wednesday when she was on her way to attend a wedding at Pandrapani, which is about 7 km from the village. The accused, along with his friend, attacked the elderly woman with an axe and killed her,” Palkot Police Station officer-in-charge Tarun Kumar said.

After the attack, the accused allegedly disposed of the body in the Goja forest area. One of the suspects was arrested on Thursday, while the other remains absconding.

During questioning, the arrested man reportedly confessed to the crime.

“During the investigation, the arrested person admitted that he killed Devi over suspicion of practising witchcraft,” the officer said.

“The accused claimed that his mother and brother had fallen ill due to the black magic of the elderly woman,” the officer said.

Police teams are conducting raids at multiple locations to trace and apprehend the second accused, the officer added.

PTI