Jharkhand: Villagers lynch elderly couple on suspicion of witchcraft

RANCHI: An elderly couple, identified as Malgo Munda (60) and his wife Longta Hansapurty (55), have been lynched on allegations of practising witchcraft at Tirla village under the Arki police station area of Khunti district.
Police said the assailants killed the couple on January 6 and threw their bodies into the nearby forest. The relatives searched for the bodies for a few days before finally informing the police on Monday about the incident.
Later, Khunti Police formed a search team and located the bodies on Monday evening. They have started a probe and questioned several villagers in this regard.
Khunti SP Ashutosh Shekhar said, “Prima facie it is a case of witch-hunting. A woman living in the neighbourhood was childless and remains constantly sick. Her husband, the main accused in the case, blamed the couple for the ills and led the assault. He is absconding .”