A man allegedly killed his 70-year-old mother on the suspicion that she practiced witchcraft, at Bhadra Digha village in Jharkhand's Dumka, police said on Monday.
The incident took place on October 28 when the accused, 41, allegedly stabbed his mother Muni Soren. The elderly woman, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dumka, succumbed to her injuries on Saturday, a police officer said.
The accused was arrested on Sunday from his house in Madhuban, and remanded to judicial custody, Gopikander Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Sumit Bhagat, told PTI.
“It was only after the death of the woman that her daughter lodged a complaint against her brother for the murder. He suspected his mother to be practicing witchcraft, and held her responsible for his 18-year-old daughter's recent death,” Bhagat said.
The accused had earlier, too, attempted to kill his mother, the officer said.
“The man confessed that on the night of October 28, he was heavily drunk and could not stop thinking about his deceased daughter, and in a fit of rage, went to her sister's house and stabbed his mother several times,” Bhagat said.
The knife used in the murder has also been recovered.
Bhagat said the police are planning to host an awareness session on the Jharkhand Witchcraft Prevention Act, 2001, in remote villages.
“We will be holding talks with the District Legal Services Authority (DALSA) to conduct awareness camps in villages, which are located in dense forests and where illiteracy is quite high, leading to such incidents,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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