Woman murdered for practising black magic

WARANGAL: Hundreds of villagers stripped and thrashed a 35-year-old woman to death in front of the police on suspicion that she was practising black magic at Pakala village in Kodakandla mandal on Wednesday.The woman in question, P Anjamma, had feared for her life and lodged a complaint with the Kodakandla police station early this morning and returned to the village along with four constables.But that only infuriated the villagers, numbering about 300-400, who crowded around her and the constables.The outnumbered cops stood by in silence, as they proceeded to strip the woman and thrash her. Her husband Komaraiah too was forced to be a mute witness to the murder.Some of the villagers doused her with kerosene and tried to torch her. Failing in the attempt, they pilfered petrol from the two-wheeler of one of the cops and sought to set her ablaze.The four policemen, somehow, managed to step in and extricated the woman from the clutches of the irate villagers.She was rushed to the Jangaon area hospital for first-aid. She died mid-way while being shifted to the MGM Hospital.According to police, a shepherd B Somaiah died of a snake bite on June 13 and ever since, his family members had been targeting Anjamma on the suspicion that her black magic had led to his death. Three days ago, they tried to attack her. On Tuesday night, Anjamma took shelter at one of her well-wisher’s house and early this morning, approached the police.The police registered cases against Somaiah’s family members, Mallesh, Linganna and Kumar and some other villagers.Jangaon DSP Nagaraju said the four constables had gone to village along with Anjamma to hold talks with the locals and settle the issue.A police picket has been set up in the village to prevent further trouble.