Five women killed on suspicion of practising witchcraft

Five women were killed by locals at Kanjia village in Ranchi district of eastern Indian state of Jharkhand

for allegedly practising 'witchcraft' in yet another barbaric incident related to superstition in the tribal state, reports the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Raj Kumar Lakra said a group of villagers used lathis (a long, heavy iron-bound bamboo stick used as a weapon) and sharp edged weapons to kill the women at around midnight.

They suspected the women of practising witchcraft, police said.

The bodies were recovered on Saturday.

Jharkhand accounted for 54 out of 160 cases of murders where women were branded witches and killed in 2013 and a total of 400 women have been murdered with the same motive since 2001 in the state.

The National Crime Records Bureau has estimated 2,097 such murders between 2000 and 2012 in the country.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das condemned the incident.

"In the age of knowledge, this incident is sorrowful.

The society should ponder over it," Das said in a statement.