Tension gripped Bhimajuli area under Biswanath police district in Assam after three youth of Karbi community killed an elderly Adivasi woman suspecting her to be a witch on Monday afternoon.
Police have arrested the three youth for their involvement in the crime and deployed additional security forces to ensure that the killing does not take a communal twist.
“Three youth suspect the victim, Poni Orang to be a witch at Bhimajuli village under the Biswanath police district and forcefully took her out of her house around 12 noon. They later killed her with a machete,” said Superintendent of Police, Biswanath Manavendra Rai.
“After being informed by the locals we rushed to the area and all the three criminals were nabbed. We have also recovered the machete used to kill the woman. It was learnt that the youth suspected the woman to be a witch and alleged that there have been serious illness in the village due to her,” police said.
“We have deployed an officer and some security forces in the village so that the incident does not take a communal twist,” the SP said.
Bhimajuli is a small nondescript village located about 300 kms away from Assam’s main city Guwahati.