[Pak Daily Times] A group of villagers in eastern India killed an elderly woman and her daughter-in-law after accusing the pair of practising witchcraft, police have said. Police in the eastern state of Jharkhand said a group of mainly female assailants beat the pair to death, after earlier deciding that they were responsible, through their alleged witchcraft, for the recent deaths of several children from illness.
"A 70-year-old woman and her 42-year-old daughter-in-law were killed by a large number of village women, who accused the duo of practising witchcraft," district police chief Rakesh Bansal said on Thursday.
"We have arrested 19 women from Karonda Jor village for their involvement in the killing," Bansal told AFP. The incident highlights the persistence of witchcraft and occult beliefs in some impoverished and tribal-dominated areas of India, leading to crimes primarily against women accused of taking part in black magic.