Representative image showing a dead body.
Credit: iStock Photo
Berhampur, Odisha: A group of people killed a 35-year-old man and cut off his private part allegedly on suspicion of practising witchcraft in Odisha’s Gajapati district, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place at Malasapadar village under Mohana police station limits in the district on Saturday night, the police said.
The villagers allegedly throttled the man to death, cut off his private part and dumped the body in the nearby Harabhangi Dam.
Police recovered the body from the reservoir on Sunday morning.
Sub-divisional police officer of G Udayagiri, Suresh Chandra Tripathy, said that they have detained 14 villagers for interrogation.
The villagers have suspected that a middle-aged woman died about a fortnight ago because of the black magic of the man.
Fearing an attack, the man, along with his family members, went to his father-in-law’s place in Ganjam district, asking his sister-in-law to take care of his cattle and goats, the police officer said.
On Saturday, Gopal returned to his village to take his domestic animals when he was abducted and killed.
The body was sent for post-mortem examination.