The Meghalaya Police said they have arrested eight people for allegedly burning alive an 80-year-old man over suspicion of witchcraft, NDTV reported. Three of the accused are the nephews of the victim.

The police said they exhumed the body of the man, identified as Moris Marngar, from a five-feet-deep pit and sent it for postmortem. Superintendent of Police Herbert Lyngdoh said the incident took place on October 7, according to PTI. The hands and legs of Marngar were tied up, he said, adding that the legs were covered with a sack, while the face was covered with a cloth.

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A local leader said that Marngar’s children had reported about the incident to village authorities a day after he was forcibly taken from his residence at Mawliehbah in Nongstoin, West Khasi Hills. The authorities then reported it to the police, who arrested the three nephews – Jayles, Denial and Differwell – on October 11. The rest were held the next day.

The police recovered the body after the accused gave their statements, Lyngdoh said. The body was covered with stones with a cross to mark the grave, he added.

The accused have alleged that Marngar had cast “evil spells” on one of his nieces and other family members. The niece was sick for the last three months. The victim’s other nephews, Barslomius and Yesparius, claimed that the girl recovered after Marngar died.

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Deputy Superintendent of Police B Kharjana said the preliminary investigation has revealed that 18 members of the extended family were involved in the incident.

In a similar incident earlier this month, residents of a village in Assam had allegedly killed two people after a kangaroo court found a 50-year-old widow to be a “witch” and responsible for the death of a 28-year-old woman. The other victim was reportedly protesting against the kangaroo court’s decision and was also beaten to death.

In June, the police had booked seven people from a Gujarat village for allegedly attacking a 42-year-old woman with an axe and sticks and accusing her of being a witch. They also had assaulted her two daughters.