Dumka (Jharkhand), Jan 18 (PTI) A local court Friday sentenced nine members of a family including two women in connection with a 2013 murder case related to witchcraft in Dumka district.

Additional District and Session Judge-II, Pawan Kumar sentenced them to life imprisonment under various Sections of the IPC including 302 (murder) and 149 (unlawful assembly).

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each.

The convicts will have to serve six months of additional imprisonment if they failed to pay the fine.

On the night of December 13, 2013, a group of people barged into the house of Lalmuni Devi in Machdiha village under Jermundi police station area, branded her a witch and beat her to death.

After assaulting her family members who tried to save her, they stuffed the body in a sack and took it away. It was recovered later.

The convicts were identified as four brothers Madan Rai, Sanat Rai, Rohit Rai and Fudan Rai and their sister Lukho Devi, Fudan's wife Hirani Devi, and three others.

(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)