A farmer, his wife and his daughter-in-law were burnt alive when residents of the Gudi Teka Toli village in Jharkhand burnt their house down claiming that the family had been practising witchcraft. The farmer Gobardhan Bhagat (70), his wife Bhado Bhagtain (65) and their daughter-in-law Sukhmania Bhagat (30) were killed in the fire. His son Laldeo Bhagat (35) is battling for life at Ranchi's Dev Kamal Hospital and another family member, Charia Bhagat, escaped without injury, reports The Telegraph. The horrifying incident took place on Sunday night when around 500 people from the village and neighbouring ones gathered, armed with traditional weapons. They claimed Gobardhan's family had been practising witchcraft and had used a child for a human sacrifice, which was the secret behind his good harvest.

The enraged mob then set the farmer's house on fire.

A six-member police team which immediately arrived after incident the from Kairo thana which is 10km away was attacked by irate villagers and were assaulted with axes and stones. They had to fire in the air to disperse the mob, said the official. Ten persons have since been arrested, reports AFP.

In August 2015, two men were lynched by a mob of 300 villagers as they were accused of practising black magic which caused an 8-year-old boy's death. The mob even attacked police officials who tried to intervene which lead two constables sustaining injuries, reported The Times of India.