Man Branded As 'Witch' Brutally Thrashed To Death By Villagers, Occult Link Suspected

In a horrific incident in India, a 50-year-old man was beaten to death by a group of villagers who suspected him of being a witch.

The villagers in Assam’s Baksa district had branded the tribal man a witch and attacked him Monday, India Blooms reported. The incident took place in Bogoribari village, about 50 miles from the eastern capital city of Guwahati.

The police told local media they have detained five people in connection with the case and are questioning them. They added they suspect an occult link in the case.

The villagers on Monday had held a meeting and accused the man of witchcraft, while some said he was possessed by a witch. Following this, a group of villagers allegedly beat the man to death, India Today reported. When the police arrived at the scene, the villagers also allegedly attacked them.

The victim was rushed to a government-run hospital where he died of his injuries.

“A case has been registered after receiving a complaint lodged by the victim’s wife. We have so far detained five persons in connection with the case. We suspect that it is a witch-hunting incident. Our investigation is on," a police officer told India Today.

One of the victim's relatives told the police the locals had also vandalized the 50-year-old's house. The identity of the victim has not been revealed. The police are yet to charge anyone in the case.

Several people in India still believe in occultist practices, especially in rural areas.

In March, a woman was accused of killing her neighbor's 3-year-old boy as a human sacrifice so that she could conceive a child. The incident took place in the northern state of Delhi. The police told local media at the time the 25-year-old woman was under a lot of pressure to get pregnant. After she failed, she approached an occultist, who asked her to sacrifice a child to please the gods to conceive. The woman, identified as Neelam Gupta, strangled her neighbor's son to complete the occult practice and later stuffed the child's body in a plastic bag and dumped it on the roof of a building. The police said the body of the child had injury marks on his neck.