Black magic suspicion leads to murder of two elderly men in Kothagudem

Two elderly men were allegedly beaten to death by villagers in Kothagudem district over suspicions of practising black magic. The son of one victim and his wife later consumed poison, fearing for their lives, and died, police said.

Kothagudem: Suspicion of performing black magic has led to alleged killing of two elderly men by villagers while two others reportedly died by suicide in the district.

According to police, the elderly men, Madakam Bheemaiah (80) of Bussayigudem village in Allapalli mandal and Padam Masaiah (70) of Budugula guthikoya hamlet in Manuguru mandal went missing on October 7 while they were returning to Bussayigudem after performing a puja at a house.

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Bheemaiah’s daughter Etti Nandini lodged a complaint with the local police, who registered a case and took up investigation. During the investigation it was found that the elderly men were beaten to death by some villagers under the pretext that they were performing black magic.

A few days ago the police retrieved the bodies, which the assailants buried at an isolated place at Mallepallitogu check dam and reportedly took five suspects into custody in connection with the case.

Meanwhile, Masaiah’s son Rambabu and his wife Sunitha allegedly consumed poison on Wednesday night fearing that the assailants involved in the murder of the elderly men would also kill them.

The villagers rushed them to Manuguru Government Hospital and then to Bhadrachalam Area Hospital. Sunitha died on the way while Rambabu died undergoing treatment on Thursday. Manuguru DSP Ravinder Reddy and staff visited the village to take stock of the situation.

The DSP and staff also visited the village after the death of the two elderly men came to light; created awareness among the villagers and warned them against resorting to killing of people with suspicion of performing black magic.