A man and three women were thrashed and paraded naked throughout the village, by a mob of about 50 people, in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district on suspicion of practising witchcraft.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident which took place on Thursday night, October 8, in Jharkhand’s Narayanpur village. Search is underway to nab the rest, NDTV reported.

‘The incident happened around 10 pm. Soon after receiving information, a team was sent to the village and it was found that around 50 people were present at the spot. Two people were caught while the others fled,’ Subdivisional Police Officer Brahmin Tutti told news agency PTI.

‘The police first provided clothes to the women and the man, following which they brought the two accused — Ravi Kumar and Vasudev — to the Sadar police station,’ he said.

The four people were attacked after two daughters of one Bali Rajwar, a resident of the village, fell sick. Bali Rajwar’s family members along with Vikas Kumar Saw, Bablu Ram, Rajad Paswan, Ravi Kumar Ram and Raju Ram, among others, stripped them naked and beat them up, before parading them in the village.

Some villagers who tried to intervene were threatened and verbally abused by the mob. No one paid heed to Narayanpur’s ward councillor Sivasagar Das as he tried to pacify the mob.

‘We have information that around 50 people were involved in the incident and a search is on for them,’ said Rajiv Kumar, the inspector in-charge of the Sadar police station.

‘The culprits will not be spared under any circumstances. Those on the run will be arrested soon,’ he said.

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