Two middle-aged women were beaten to death by neighbours on suspicion of practising witchcraft in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said on Saturday.

Bodies of the two tribal women were found in an irrigation canal near Harisarah village under Mayureswar police station.

Police arrested 15 people in connection with the incident that took place on Friday night.

The family members of the deceased, Lodgi Kisku and Dolly Soren, alleged that they were called out of their homes at night by a group of people who beat them with sticks after tying them with ropes.

Rani Kisku, a daughter of Lodki Kisku, said, "My cousin and other villagers dragged my mother out of home. My two brothers were away, we couldn’t protect her." A senior police officer said that prima facie, suspicion of practising witchcraft is the motive behind the killing "but we don’t rule out other possibilities".

A large police force arrived in the village and arrested 15 people for their alleged involvement in the incident.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination.

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