Three hacked to death in broad daylight in Telangana over suspicion of practising witchcraft

A man and his two sons were hacked to death in Jagtial town on Thursday in a mob attack in broad daylight. According to police, the previous enmity over allegations of sorcery is suspected to be the motive behind the murders. Jagtial Superintendent of Police Sindhu Sharma said the police were conducting a thorough investigation.

Jagtial (Telangana):Even in this modern age, some people are being killed alleging them to be practising witchcraft. On Thursday, three people were hacked to death in Jagtial while three others sustained injuries in the Jangaon district of Telangana. A mob attacked a father and his three sons in broad daylight in Jagtial on Thursday, three died while the fourth one escaped by fleeing from the spot.

A similar incident took place on Wednesday night at Kashagudem in the Jangaon district. Three members were attacked due to the superstitions that they are practising black magic.

According to police, Jagannatham Nageshwar Rao (60), a resident of Erukalawada in Jagtial town, and the families of his sons are also live nearby. He was accompanied by his eldest son Rambabu (35), second son Ramesh (25) and third son Rajesh on Thursday to the local community meeting, which was convened for every six months.

During the meeting a heated argument took place, some participants in the meeting attacked Nageshwar Rao and his three sons with knives and other sharp-edged weapons and killed them in the presence of 40-50 people.

Nageshwar Rao (55), Jagannatham Ram Babu (35) and Jagannatham Ramesh (30) died on the spot while Rao’s youngest son managed to escape.

According to police, the previous enmity over allegations of sorcery is suspected to be the motive behind the murders. Jagtial Superintendent of Police Sindhu Sharma said the police were conducting a thorough investigation.

In another incident, Yakub's daughter-in-law, a native of Tigaram village in Janagaon district, gave birth to a baby girl three months ago. She had been suffering from stomach ache for the past 15 days and was taken to various hospitals, but could not be cured.

'Yakub's relatives told him that Gorimia, who lived next door to his house, was doing black magic. Hence, his daughter-in-law was suffering. Yakub believed in their words and called their relatives to Kashagudem on Wednesday night and along with his relatives, he attacked Gorimia and his two sons Aleem and Nazeer. Jangaon police admitted the injured to the MGM Hospital. Based on a complaint a case has been registered against the attackers, said Jaffargarh in-charge SI Venkateshwarlu.