Odisha man dragged out of house, lynched, burnt on black magic suspicion

A mob dragged a man out of his house in Odisha's Cuttack district, lynched him on the suspicion of practising black magic and then burnt his body to erase evidence, following which 25 people were arrested, police said on Wednesday.

While the incident occurred on May 10, the arrests were made on Tuesday, a day after the victim's father lodged a formal complaint with the police.

In the complaint, Sweta Behera claimed that his son, Tikima Behera, was dragged out of the house at Talamunduli village and beaten up by the mob on May 10, leading to his death. His body was burnt to erase evidence, the father alleged.

He mentioned that Tikima was staying with his brother and sister-in-law at the village after his wife abandoned him seven years ago.

"So far, we have arrested 25 men of the village who allegedly killed the man on suspicion of performing black magic. Three teams have been formed to probe the incident. One of the arrested accused confessed to the crime during interrogation," Cuttack (Rural) SP Vinit Agrawal told reporters.

He said police have also recovered the partially burnt body of the deceased.