Elderly couple found dead with slit throats in Jharkhand's Latehar district

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An elderly couple was found dead with their throats slit at their home in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Monday, police said.

Family members and police suspect that the couple was killed on suspicion of witchcraft.

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Some people have been detained for interrogation, police said.

The incident happened at Amdiha village under Barwadih police station area, around 180km from capital Ranchi, on Sunday night, police station in-charge Niwas Kumar Singh said.

"It is being suspected that 65-year-old Krit Singh and 60-year-old Tulswani Devi were killed on suspicion of witchcraft. Some people are being interrogated. The case is being investigated thoroughly," he said.

The couple's daughter Shanti Devi told police that their parents lived alone in the house, which is located around 200 metres from her in-laws' residence.

She said both bodies were found under a cot with their throats slit on Monday morning.

"Some people in the village used to torture my mother by accusing her of witchcraft. About four years ago, some people had even beaten up her mother by calling her a witch. At that time, the matter had also gone to the police station," she told police.

Murder on suspicion of witchcraft has been a major issue in Jharkhand.

An analysis of NCRB's data suggests that a total of 593 people, mostly women, were killed on allegations of practising witchcraft between 2001 and 2021 in the state.

The state registered the highest number of 54 witch-hunting murders in 2013, 52 in 2008 and 50 in 2007.

Witchcraft murder cases started declining after 2014 when 47 people were killed. Thirty-two people were killed in 2015, 27 in 2016, 19 in 2017, 18 in 2018, 15 each in 2019 and 2020 and 3 in 2021.

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