BIHAR, July 7: Five members of a family, including three women, were allegedly killed and their bodies burnt on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Bihar's Purnea district, police said on Monday.
Two persons were arrested in connection with Sunday night's incident that invited a barrage of criticism from the opposition parties.
Preliminary investigation suggests that five members of a family in Tetma village, under Muffasil Police station, were first murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft. It appears that the accused then burnt their bodies in a bush. The incident took place on Sunday night, DIG (Purnea) Pramod Kumar Mandal told PTI.
Investigations also suggest that a total 30-40 villagers were present there during the murder of Sita Devi, Kali, Rani Devi, Babu Lal and Manjeet Ram, Mandal said.
After killing them, they took their bodies in a tractor to a bush and burnt them, he said.
He further said a section of villagers claimed that the killing might have taken place due to the recent death of a child in the village..
Two persons were arrested in this connection and several others detained by the police.
"It is suspected that the boy recently died in the village due to their black magic. It is being further investigated. All deceased belonged to a particular tribe," said another official of the Muffasil police station.
Senior officials visited the spot, besides forensic experts and a dog squad to assist the investigators, said the DIG, who also visited the spot.
Yadav has been speaking about "DK Tax" in the past few months, but he never clarified who or what is DK. |
