Sixty-year-old woman branded as witch, killed in Jharkhand

Ranchi, Oct 8 (IANS) A 60-year-old woman suspected of witchcraft was battered to death while her husband was injured in an attack in Jharkhand's Deoghar district on Thursday, police said.According to police, the woman Barki Marandi was killed with a sharp edged weapon and her husband Shukla Marandi was hospitalised after sustaining injuries.Police have detained one person in connection with the incident.The incident took place at Bechkodwa village situated under Jasidih police station in Deoghar district. The woman had been engaged in a dispute with the villagers for a long time. The villagers accused the woman of practicing black magic and causing trouble for other villagers. Two years ago the woman and her husband were ostracised by the villagers. The woman has three children but they stay elsewhere to earn their livelihood.More than 1,200 people, a majority of them women, have been killed in Jharkhand over accusations of practicing black magic.
--IANS ns/sdr/bg