Mother Of Five Killed n Beheaded Accused Of Witchcraft

A woman accused of practising witchcraft has been attacked, killed and beheaded by Villagers in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam.

The mother-of-five Moni Orang was grabbed from her home by machete-carrying locals after priests accused her of casting spells.

The 63-year-old was then hacked to death.

"The attackers armed with machetes and other crude implements descended on the village and took away Moni Orang from her house and then brutally killed her," senior police official Manabendra Dev Roy said.

"She was decapitated and her limbs were chopped off."

Seven people have been arrested and, since then, the local police station has been stormed in protest.

"Moni was a witch and had cast evil spells on her enemies," one villager told local television.

"There is no place for such sorcerers and so her killing is justified."

Mrs Orang's husband insisted his wife was "an innocent woman" and accused local priests of stoking "suspicion and provocation".

In some impoverished and tribal-led areas of India, belief in witchcraft and the occult remains widespread.

Women in some cases have been stripped as punishment, while others have been burnt alive or run out of their homes and killed.

A number of states have brought in special laws to try to bring to a halt such crimes.