A 60-year-old man was beaten to death by a group of women on suspicion of practising black magic in a village in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district, a police official said on Thursday.

Five women, in the age group of 30 and 50 years, were arrested and forwarded to jail in connection with the case, he said.

“The old man, identified as Baleshwar Oraon, was beaten to death with rods by the women on suspicion of practising black magic. They also assaulted his wife Etwari Devi,” Angara police station in-charge Chamra Minz told PTI.

The incident occurred at Jarga Tetartoli village under Angara police station area, around 25 km from Ranchi, on Tuesday evening after the victim allegedly entered a neighbour’s house and went near a sleeping girl to use black magic on her.

As the girl started shouting, village women gathered there and began assaulting him. When his wife tried to intervene, the women also beat her, Minz said.

“The superstition among these women is so high that they believe if Oraon sees anybody, the person would die. Two years ago, a person had died and the women blamed him for that,” he said.

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