GUMLA: Twenty-four people were arrested on Friday in connection with the killing of a 55-year-old woman at Ganeshpur village under Serengdag police station in Lohardaga, police said on Saturday. Police found the woman's body on Friday afternoon.
The deceased was identified as Holo Devi.
"The villagers branded her as a witch, accusing her of practising black magic which allegedly led to the death of five locals earlier this year," the officer in-charge of Serendag police station, Sunny Kumar, said.
"The ones that died (since January) were suffering from various ailments and their deaths had nothing to do with black magic," he added.
On Thursday, the villagers held a marathon panchayat and decided to kill Devi. They beat her up with sticks and forced her to drink pesticide, which resulted in her death. They then stuffed her body in a sack and threw it in Dhardharia Falls.
Following the recovery of her body, 30 villagers were interrogated and thereafter, the arrests were made. "A detailed investigation on the matter is underway," Kumar said.
The woman's two daughters are married and they live elsewhere. She lived with her son and daughter-in-law.
