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5 women stripped, beaten and killed with sharp weapons for practising 'witchcraft' in Ranchi

News Agencies | Updated on: 13 February 2017, 3:35 IST

Five woman have been killed by locals at Kanjia village in Ranchi district. They were killed for allegedly practicing 'witchcraft'. This is yet another barbaric incident in the state relating to superstition.

Kanjia village in Ranchi is a rural community where there are frequent reports of fatal attacks on women. Locals say that these women have cast curses that are blamed for misfortune, illness or poor crops. Subsequently these killings disguise the real cause - family feuds or land disputes.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Raj Kumar Lakra said a group of villagers used lathis and sharp edged weapons to kill the women at around midnight.

They suspected the women of practicing witchcraft, police said. The bodies were recovered on 8 August.

Jharkhand accounted for 54 out of 160 cases of murders where women were branded witches and killed in 2013 and a total of 400 women have been murdered with the same motive since 2001 in the state.

The National Crime Records Bureau has estimated 2,097 such murders between 2000 and 2012 in the country.

- With PTI inputs

First published: 8 August 2015, 4:40 IST