Five people were beaten to death with sticks, then surrendered at the police station; children were ‘orphaned’ on suspicion of witchcraft

A group of people beat three women and two men to death in a village in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Sunday. Police said a priest had indicated that a boy and a senior citizen had died suddenly in the village due to black magic practiced by them. Those who allegedly beat the five to death with sticks later went to the local police station and surrendered.

The incident took place in Ektal village, around 90 km from Sukma district headquarters. The victims have been identified as Mausam Kanna (34), his wife Mausam Biri, Mausam Buchcha (34), his wife Mausam Arjo (32) and Karka Lacchi (43). A police officer said, “Two deaths were reported in the village – one of a boy and the other of an elderly man. Though they died of natural causes, their family members asked a tribal priest why they died suddenly. The priest hinted that the deceased were responsible for it.”

The accused are named as Savalam Rajesh, Savalam Hidma, Karam Satyam, Kunjam Mukesh and Podiyam Enka. The police officer said, ‘They have no regrets for their crime. They believe that the accused were practicing black magic. We are looking for the priest and others involved in the incident.’ Three days earlier on Thursday, four members of the same family, including an 11-month-old infant, were killed in Balodabazar-Bhatpara district on suspicion of witchcraft.

They killed everyone except the children

According to official sources, for the past few months, a child or man was dying almost every week in the village and the local residents were blaming the victims’ family for these deaths. They said that the residents told the police that they believed that the victims’ family practiced black magic to target financially well-off people in the village. They said that except for two children, five other members of the family were killed by the accused.