Garhwa, Jul 5 (PTI) A 70-year-old woman was beaten to death in Jharkhand's Garhwa district by villagers who claimed that she practiced witchcraft, police said on Tuesday.

The incident happened in Khuri village in Chiniyan police station area, they said.

Also Read | Tesla Cars Can Now Scan for Potholes To Avoid Damage: Report.

A person has been taken into custody for interrogation, police said.

Also Read | Earthquake of 5.0 Magnitude Strikes Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 24 Tremors Recorded in Two Days.

In a complaint, the woman's family alleged that five people dragged her at least 200 metres from her house around 8.30 pm on Sunday, and beat her to death with sticks.

"Her body has been sent for postmortem," a police officer said.

Murder on suspicion of witchcraft is a predominant social evil in the state.

As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 590 people, mostly women, were killed over this between 2001 and 2020.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)