Villagers lynch mentally-challenged woman suspecting her to be a 'witch'

Agra: A 62-year-old mentally-challenged woman was beaten to death allegedly by a group of people at a village in Agra who suspected her to be a "witch", police said.

The incident occurred Tuesday night when Maan Devi went outside her house to relieve herself. She lost her way in the darkness and reached a nearby colony, they said on Wednesday.

A girl sleeping outside her house got scared on seeing Devi, who was wearing a white saree, and raised alarm, the police said.

Soon locals gathered at the spot suspecting Devi was a witch and started beating her up, the police said, adding that by the time some women identified her, she was severely injured.

Her family members rushed her to an Agra hospital from where she was released after first-aid but she died on the way home.

Inspector D P Sharma of Doki police station said the woman was mentally-challenged. She received an injury on her head.

The body has been sent for postmortem, he said, adding a case of murder has been registered against two persons in the matter.