An 56-year-old widow was brutally bludgeoned to death by her own family members in Assam on suspicion of allegedly practicing ‘witchcraft’.

The incident has been reported from a remote village on the Dhubri-Kokrajhar border on Sunday.

Two persons, namely Naresh Hembrom and Bajan Hembrom, were detained in connection to it.

Prima-facie it appears to be a case of witch-hunting, however, the exact motive of the murder will be ascertained after a proper investigation, police said.

The body was later sent for post-mortem and further investigation is on.

Witch-hunting is a prevailing problem in rural Assam and there seems to be no end to it. In April this year, a couple in Assam’s Baksa district was allegedly murdered on suspicion of practicing witchcraft.

According the police, the couple was murdered by one Suraj Ekka at the Doomni tea estate in the district. He allegedly barged into the couple’s house and bludgeoned them to death.

Ekka had blamed the couple for his wife’s ailing health, who didn’t recover despite several treatments.

Ekka was arrested based on the complaint by the couple’s daughter. During interrogation, he confessed to committing the crime.