Odisha shocker: Man throttled to death, bobbitised, body dumped in dam over witchcraft suspicion; 14 villagers detained

BERHAMPUR: A 35-year-old man was allegedly throttled to death and bobbitised by a group of villagers on the suspicion of practising witchcraft at Malasapadar in Gajapati district on Saturday night, police said.After killing Gopal Mallick near the Harabhangi dam, the accused tied a stone slab to his body and dumped it in the reservoir, police said."A police team rushed to the spot and recovered the body with the help of firefighters on Sunday," said inspector in-charge of Mohana police station, Basant Kumar Sethi."At least 14 villagers have been detained for interrogation," said Suresh Chandra Tripathy, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), G Udayagiri.After a woman died about a fortnight ago in mysterious circumstances, villagers suspected her death was caused due to witchcraft practice by Gopal. Fearing an attack by the villagers, Gopal along with his family members left the village and went to his father-in-law's home at Gumandi in Ganjam district, while his sister-in-law took care of his cattle and goats.On Saturday, he came to take away his livestock animals. While returning, a group of villagers allegedly kidnapped him on the way.The villagers then allegedly assaulted him by confining him in a house, despite his sister-in-law's protests. They took him near the dam and throttled him to death before bobbitising hm, police said.Subsequently, Gopal's sister-in-law, Sita Mallick, filed an FIR. Preliminary inquiry revealed the villagers had earlier threatened Gopal suspecting that he practised witchcraft.The other accused involved in the brutal murder would be identified only after interrogation of the detainees, police said.