An Indian woman has been killed by a group of villagers who suspected her of practising witchcraft, police said.
They
said Purni Orang, 63, died after she was stripped naked and beheaded by
villagers in a tribal village in the north-eastern state of Assam on
Monday. Seven people, including two women, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Witch hunts targeting women are common in parts of India and a number of those accused are killed every year.
Experts say superstitious beliefs are behind some of these attacks, but there are occasions when people - especially widows - are targeted for their land and property.
Local police official Samad Hussain told the BBC Hindi that people in a village in Sonitpur district were falling sick, and some of them "blamed Purni Orang for their condition".
"After that they branded her a witch and killed her," Mr Hussain said.
Reports say the villagers were instigated by a couple, who work as priests in the village.
In October, an Indian athlete Debjani Bora was severely beaten after being branded a witch in Assam.
Branding women as witches is particularly prevalent among tribal communities and tea plantation workers in the state.
Nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after such accusations over the last six years, police say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-33605244
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