RANCHI: In yet another incident of witch-hunting, a 57-year-old man, Sakal Tudu, beheaded a woman on suspicion of witchcraft and walked straight into Radhanagar Police Station of Sahibganj, along with the severed head and the sharp weapon used for killing the 55-year old lady on Tuesday night.
According to the police, FIRs against him and eight others have been lodged under various sections of murder and witch-hunting.
The man, during interrogation, admitted that he killed the lady as she practiced witchcraft which led to the death of his 25-year old son Swadhin Tudu.
The man told police that he killed the lady as she had predicted his son will die by Sunday evening, which actually proved to be right; triggering a suspicion that she practices witchcraft.
“Prima facie it appears to be a case of witch-hunting due to which the man killed the lady with the help of some other persons in Mehandipur village under Radhanagar Police Station. An FIR has been lodged against him and other eight persons of the same village,” said Sahibganj SP Anuranjan Kispotta.
Initial reports suggest that the man beheaded the woman to take revenge of the death of his son. But investigations are underway to get into the details of the matter, he added.
Local sources said that Swadhin died on Sunday after prolonged illness but soon after his demise, a rumour was spread in the village that he died of black magic as the lady had already predicted in the morning that Swadhin would die in the evening.
Instead of performing last rights of his son, Sakal Tudu took a pledge that he will dispose his son's dead body only after taking revenge from the lady.
On Tuesday midnight, he somehow sneaked into the lady’s house, a couple of lanes away in the same village and beheaded her when she was asleep. Later, the dead body was recovered from his house and sent for autopsy.