A tricky task for the detectives

by Feòrag

West Bengal, India: A man who strangeled and decapitated a 50-year-old woman had been acting on the advice of a witch doctor who told him she had put a spell on his children.

After the village quack failed to cure his children, Kisku was advised by some friends to see a witch doctor who promised to help for a fee of Rs 1,200. [£16/€23]

The poor man arranged for the money and an elaborate ritual was conducted. At the end of it, the witch doctor pronounced that Kisku's worries were because of a woman relative who had cast an evil spell on his children.

The witch doctor warned that he would lose his family if she were not killed.

The man then took her head to the local police station and confessed to the crime. About 70 women are killed each year in West Bengal on suspicion of practising witchcraft. Man beheads 'witch', takes head to police - Hindustan Times, 20th April 2003.