A 45-year-old man and his wife were hacked to death by unidentified persons in Odisha's Keonjhar district with the police claiming that the double murder was committed on suspicion that they practised witchcraft, an official said.

Their bodies were found in a pool of blood outside their house in Rasool Jhumukipatiya Sahi village under Daitari police station on Sunday morning.

"It appears that suspicion of practising witchcraft was behind the murders. One person was detained. Further investigation is underway," Keonjhar Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mahapatra told PTI.

The couple's daughter Singo said that her father Bahada Murmu and his wife Dhani (35) were sleeping outside their room on Saturday night.

"I was sleeping inside a room. After hearing a scream, I came out and saw that my parents were lying in a pool of blood," Singo said.

She called up her uncle Kisan Marandi and informed him what had happened.

"I got a call at around 12:30 am from Singo. I, along with my elder son, reached the village on a motorcycle," Marandi said.

On being informed, a police team reached the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem examination.

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