Police on Saturday recovered the bodies of two tribal women, who were allegedly lynched by a group of villagers on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Birbhum's Mayureswar.

A source stated that the middle-aged women were killed on the night of September 10, and their bodies were dumped in a canal by the accused in an attempt to destroy evidence. However, in his complaint, the husband of one of the victims mentioned that the murders took place two days earlier.

"We have arrested 15 people in connection with the murder case. However, we will only know the exact time of the deaths once the post-mortem reports are available,” said a senior police officer.

All were produced in Rampurhat court on Saturday afternoon. Currently, four are in police custody. The remaining 11 are in judicial custody.

According to the police, Ludki Kisku, 54, and Dolly Hansda, 42, were accused by villagers of practising witchcraft during a religious event in Harisara village in Mayureswar. The villagers blamed the women for allegedly "doing witchcraft" on a boy who fell ill in front of them. Thereafter, villagers tied the women to a tree and beat them to death with bamboo sticks.

A police source, however, said that most villagers were unwilling to disclose what actually happened and in-depth interrogations of those in police custody were needed to arrive at the full truth.

The family members of the victims claimed they could not report to the police immediately as perpetrators threatened them with dire consequences.

"Those who killed my mother threatened us with dire consequences, warning us not to report it to the police. They falsely labelled my mother a witch and brutally killed her,” said Joba Kisku, the daughter of Ludki.

Dolly's husband, Budi Hansda, a resident of another tribal hamlet, in his complaint said his wife went missing on September 8, and despite asking villagers about her, he was unable to find her.

"I eventually heard that villagers killed my wife and another woman, falsely accusing them of practising witchcraft,” Hansda said.

Violence over "witchcraft" is not uncommon in southern Bengal districts like Birbhum, Murshidabad, East Burdwan and Bankura. In March last year, an elderly couple was allegedly lynched in Birbhum’s Sainthia on similar charges.