Odisha: Man bludgeoned to death over suspicion of witchcraft

Balasore: A man was ruthlessly bludgeoned to death in Balasore district on Monday as villagers suspected that he was involved in practicing witchcraft. The incident happened in Bankishula village in Nilagiri block of Balasore district.

The victim has been identified as Shyam Singh, who was the resident of the same village.

According to reports, Singh had a heated argument with some villagers in the morning regarding some unknown issues. However, in course of the argument, Singh grew agitated and threatened the villagers that he would cast spells on them. This further agitated the mob and they began thrashing him, which ultimately resulted in his death.

It has been reported that the mob also cut out his tongue before killing him.

Singh’s wife, Minati Singh said that the villagers tied his neck to a pole with a belt. When his tongue came out of the mouth as he was choking, the cut it off with a sharp weapon. They then proceeded to beat him to death.

She has named three people, Meena Singh, his wife, and Chanda Singh, who belong to the same village, for her husband’s death.

The police has meanwhile begun their preliminary investigation into this incident.