A man suspected of practising witchcraft was allegedly beaten to death by villagers and buried in a forest in Odisha’s Gajapati district, police confirmed on Thursday.
The incident occurred on the night of July 28 in Kusumpur village under Mohana police limits. The deceased, Karunakar Dalai, was reportedly working as a quack and used to prescribe ayurveda-like remedies to the villagers.
The matter came to light only on Wednesday, when Karunakar’s sister-in-law, Sabita, lodged a complaint with Mohana police. “Around 6 pm on July 28, a group of villagers called Karunakar for a meeting at the anganwadi kendra. He never returned. When I enquired, I was told he was beaten,” she told reporters.
During the preliminary investigation, Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda revealed that Karunakar had recently treated a 12-year-old boy for a dog bite, but the child died a few days later. This incident, along with a few similar cases, reportedly triggered the mob attack.
“A group of around 10–12 villagers thrashed Karunakar and buried his body in a nearby forest. The locals were aware but chose to remain silent,” said SP Panda.
Police recovered Karunakar’s body on Thursday and detained eight people for questioning.
This marks the second such incident in Mohana area within days. In a separate case, a 35-year-old man from Malasapadar village was murdered on similar suspicion. His body was later found in Harabhangi Dam, with police arresting several villagers in connection with the gruesome killing.