16 held for murder of a youngster over suspicion of practising witchcraft in Parvathipuram Manyam district

Visakhapatnam: The Parvathipuram Manyam district police arrested sixteen persons, including some teenagers and women in connection with the murder of 30-year-old Tadanga Ramesh on the suspicion of practicing witchcraft. The police said Ramesh, a native of Velagavalasa village under Parvathipuram mandal was beaten to death by a group of villagers on Monday . The accused also tried to burn the body of Ramesh to hide the evidence.Based on the complaint from the victim’s brother T Sridhar, the Parvathipuram Rural police visited the village and retrieved the burnt body from the spot and shifted for the autopsy. The deceased is survived by wife and two children.The police have formed three special teams to nab the accused, and they managed to nab sixteen persons for their involvement in the murder. The police said the group of villagers went to Ramesh’s home, dragged him and beat him to death. Later, they shifted the body to the outskirts of the village and burned it.For context, a tribal couple Savara Illango (55) and his wife Savara Jyothi (50) were hacked to death by Savara Thotayya at Chinarajapuram vilage under Kotturu mandal in Srikakulam district in April this year over the suspicion of practising witchcraft.