Woman branded 'witch', murdered in ASR district

ASR: A 56-year-old woman suspected of practicing witchcraft was murdered at DN Palem under Devipatnam police station limits in Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district a week after a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said the state recorded six such killings in 2021.

Sub-inspector of Devipatnam K.V Nagarjuna said Ch. Srinivas Reddy murdered Kondla Somalamma alias Suryamani by slitting her throat and stabbing her with a knife at DN Palem.

The police said Srinivas's mother, who fell from a tree a week ago, died a few days ago. But Srinivas and his relatives strongly believed that Somalamma was a witch and was responsible for his mother's death. The locals said whenever Srinivas's mother fell ill, he would accuse Somalamma of indulging in black magic against his mother.

Srinivas decided to kill Somalamma and murdered her. The horrific murder in the name of black magic has sent shock waves across the mandal.

The police have formed a team to nab Srinivas who fled after killing the woman. The victim's body was taken for post-mortem.

Bloodshed in the name of witchcraft and sorcery refuses to leave north Andhra Pradesh. Parts of the region are some of the most affected areas of superstition-related crimes, social activists said.