A 63-year-old woman from Sonitpur district in Assam state in India has been killed because of accusations of being a witch, according to a NDTV video news report.
Apparently, villagers blamed the elderly woman, identified as Purni Orang, for an unspecified illness outbreak in the village. The woman was dragged out of her house by a mob of nearly 200 people in Bhimajuli village, stripped naked and beheaded.
The report notes that witch-hunting is still common in Assam tribal communities with dozens, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after such accusations over the last six years.
Seven people have been arrested in this connection to this crime.
The Assam government is contemplating an anti-witchhunt law.
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