Woman killed on suspicion of black magic in Asifabad

A woman was killed on suspicion of performing black magic here at Kutoda village of Asifabad rural mandal in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on Wednesday.

According to police, a man, identified as Atram Katti from the village blamed the woman performing black magic after his 12-year-old son died of ill-health a few days ago. He then attacked the woman and killed her as he suspected that the black magic performed by her led to the death of his son. Atram Katti hit her on her head when she was sitting near a bonfire. Kante Bheembai (65) who sustained injuries died mid-way while being shifted to Asifabad hospital. Based on the complaint lodged by Bheembai's son, the police arrested the accused and sent him to judicial custody.

The incident occurred one-and-half months after three men were hacked to death on suspicion of practicing black magic. On December 20, the man and his two sons were brutally hacked to death by a group of people during a meeting of Yerukala community at Tarakram Nagar in Jagtial district. Following a heated argument, some people attacked Nageshwar Rao and his three sons with knives and other sharp-edged weapons and killed them in presence of 40-50 people. A woman in Yerukala Wada died a week ago and Nageshwar Rao's rivals suspected him to be responsible for her death.

Superstitious beliefs are deep-rooted in some parts of Telangana. The region has seen a spate of incidents in the past in which people suspected to be practicing black magic where people were burnt alive or hacked to death. In most of the cases, the victims were women. They were either murdered, paraded naked or physically abused. The awareness campaign conducted by police over the last two decades led to a drop in the number of such cases but has not totally eliminated the menace. Police still use cultural troupes called 'kalabrundam' in rural areas to create awareness among people against black magic.

In November 2020, a Hyderabad techie was burnt alive by his in-laws' family in Jagtial district. The 40-year-old techie, who was blamed for the death of his wife's brother through black magic, was doused with petrol and burnt alive in an ashram run by his in-laws at Balwantpur village. Police said the techie's wife was also present in the ashram and did nothing to stop the murder. The family was so convinced about the man practicing black magic that they felt if he was not killed, he would kill them.