Jamshedpur, Jan. 20: Four members of a family were hacked to death on Wednesday allegedly in a revenge attack by a man whose wife was reportedly killed by a member of the slain family five days ago on the suspicions of practicing witchcraft. The gruesome incident occurred at Chattani Village, about 25 km from here.
Police said Basko Tudu was arrested on the charge of murdering two brothers and two women members of a neighboring family. The deceased include Thapa Tudu (35), Ramesh (28), elder brothers of Bhairo, accused of killing the woman, Ramesh’s wife (20) and their sister Sonia Tudu (20). The incident occurred in the wee hours at Patharbaggha village in East Singhbhum district, DSP (Musaboni) Ajit Vimal said.
Shayam Tudu alias Bhairo had allegedly killed Basko�s wife on January 15 after branding her a witch. Currently, Shayam is at present lodged in jail.
Basko first hacked to death Thapa Tudu and then went inside his house and hacked his brother Ramesh, his wife and their sister. The bodies have been sent to the MGM Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem.
Basko later surrendered to the gram pradhan who handed him over to the police. Quoting villagers, DSP Vimal said Thapa�s two panic-stricken children fled the scene following the incident. His wife had died long back.
On January 15, Basko’s 45-year-old wife Bali was allegedly axed to death by Bhairo who suspected that the couple practiced witchcraft, he said. This incident took place at at Pathardanga in East Singhbhum district.
Bhairo was arrested and has been remanded in judicial custody. As many as 40 to 50 women are branded as witches are killed in Jharkhand every year.
