Four hacked to death in Jharkhand for 'practising witchcraft'

Four members of a family, including two women, were hacked to death on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district on Sunday, police said.

The victims have been identified as Jinkaru Mundain (75), her daughter Soru Mundain (55), and two sons Ghasia Munda (50) and Hagal Munda (40), police said.

According to police, Shyamlal Munda and his brother Ram Singh Munda entered the victims' house early on Sunday morning and hacked the four family members to death.

The incident took place at Sosokada Tola area of Seraikela-Kharsawan, around 130 km from Ranchi.

According to police, Shyamlal's one-year-old son died a few days ago. He suspected that the victims' black magic resulted in his son's death.

After killing the family members, the accused took the women's head to police station.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

More than 1,000 women have been killed over the years in Jharkhand on suspicion of practising witchcraft.