Four women and three elderly people from a Dalit family were mercilessly beaten by fellow villagers in India's Maharashtra state. Residents of Vani Khurd village, where the incident took place on Saturday, accused them of performing black magic.
According to police, those accused of committing the crime are also from the Dalit community. "A total of 13 people have been arrested, and a case has been registered", Santosh Ambike, a local police official, told reporters on Monday.
However, police could not find any evidence of the victim family being involved in acts of sorcery or witchcraft.
Local officials said no villager tried to rescue the family. It was only after police intervened that the family could be moved to the district hospital. The health condition of five of them remains critical.
Police have been deployed in the village, and no outsider is allowed to enter the area.
The "Crime In India 2019" report released by the National Crime Records Bureau showed that Maharashtra state police registered 2,150 cases against individuals for committing atrocities against the "oppressed class". In 2017, the number of such incidents stood at 1,689, and in 2018 it was 1,974.