45YO man murdered and burnt over 'witchcraft' suspicion in Srikakulam district

Srikakulam: In a shocking incident, a 45- year-old man was murdered and his body was set on fire over suspicion of practising sorcery at Pulaguda tribal village under Kotturu Mandal in Srikakulam district on Saturday night.

The deceased has been identified as V Nayakamma alias Nayak, a farmer by profession.

The Kotturu police said that the villagers suspected that Nayakamma practice black magic and he was responsible for the death of 30- year-old Ramesh Babu.

The police said that Ramesh died of illness and his wife also expressed that no one was responsible for the death of her husband. Ramesh died 20 days ago in the village with symptoms of fever and other diseases.

and also a calm going person in the village. by around 15 people

However, relatives of Ramesh and some villagers went to neighbouring Odisha, where they met one person, who used to perform some Tantrik Pujas. The man brainwashed them that someone in the village practising witchcraft.

Later, the locals accused Nayakamma of being a witch and worked spells on Ramesh to make him sick and led to death. In order to take revenge, a group of villagers decided to eliminate Nayakamma and they dragged him out of his residence on Saturday night.

Nayakamma has been brutally murdered in front of his family members. Later, they took the body to an isolated place in the village and burnt the body to destroy the evidence.

The police on Sunday morning visited the crime scene and came to the conclusion that around 15 people murdered Nayakamma and burnt the body.

The police have registered a case against the accused persons. The police said that the accused managed to flee from the village. Police are raiding accused hideouts.

The police said some villagers in the tribal pockets along with Andhra-Odisha border still believe in black magic. The police said that they will nab all the accused persons in the case.

Recently in Vizianagaram district, a 40-year-old man P Minna Rao alias Bariki was beaten to death under suspicion of being a tonhi man involved in witchcraft practice at Konda Kuneru village under Gummalakshmipuram in Vizianagaram Mandal.

The investigation has revealed that a 23-year-old P Prasad of the same village died of ill-health. However, relatives of Prasad accused Minna Rao of being a witch and they suspected that Minna Rao worked spells on Prasad to make him sick and led to death. They murdered Minna Rao and burnt his body to hide the evidence. However, the police managed to nab 17 persons in connection with the murder of Minna Rao.