Five accused witches hacked to death in India
Five villagers accused of being witches were hacked to death by unidentified attackers in north-eastern India, officials said today.
The deaths take the toll of people killed after sorcery accusations to at least 10 in the past two weeks in a remote part of Assam state, where there are many indigenous tribes that believe in witchcraft.
All five killings took place on Sunday in the district of Kokrajhar, about 160 miles west of Gauhati, the state capital, said Mrinal Talukdar, a senior police official.
In the village of Nandipur, “six men armed with machetes stormed a house … and hacked three members of a family to death accusing them of practicing sorcery,” he said.
Another middle-aged couple also suspected of practicing sorcery were killed on Sunday after unidentified men attacked them with sharp weapons in the nearby village of Bijoynagar.
The witchcraft suspicions stem from the recent deaths of two people in Nandipur from an unknown illness.
