In a suspected case of witch-hunting, residents of a village in Assam killed two people, including a 28-year-old school teacher.
The other deceased, a 50-year-old widow, was branded as "witch" by the villagers and was accused of causing the death of another woman in the area. When the school teacher intervened to speak out against the superstitions of the villagers, both were killed.
The incident took place in Langhin Rahimapur under the Dokmoka Police Station in Assam, reported CNN News18.
According to the report, angry villagers attacked Ramawati Halua, the widow, in her house with sharp weapons. When the teacher, Bijoy Gaur, tried to intervene, both were brutally murdered.
Their bodies were then beheaded by the villagers who offered prayers to ward off evil and dragged across a river and be cremated at a distance.
The villagers also tried to attack Halua's teenage daughter who escaped and narrated the incident to the police.
"All accused belong to the same community and the incident was reported from elsewhere. The people are economically to backward and are loaded with superstitious beliefs. We will now prepare a charge sheet and if the court convicts them then only we can say that we reached a logical conclusion," said Karbi Anglong, SP, Debojit Deuri to News18.
(With inputs from News18)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)