India man condemned in 'witch' slaying

[icymist]

A farmer in India was sentenced to death Saturday for killing two people with an ax that he believed were witches who had put a spell on a relative.

Niranjan Khaklary was convicted of murdering the couple in a Darrang-district village last year after a relative fell ill and could not be cured by conventional medicine.
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In perhaps the first ever verdict of its kind, a man accused of killing a couple branded as witches was sentenced to death today by a court in Assam's Darrang district.

Niranjan Khaklary, a 28-year-old farmer from Kobirali Kodumguri village of Darrang district, was convicted by the district and sessions judge of of killing 34-year-old N Daimary and 37-year-old Bimala Daimary on March 31, 2005.

A member of Khaklary's family had taken ill and did not recover even after being treated by several doctors. Villagers then alleged that the couple practised witchcraft and this had made Khaklary's kin ill.

Khaklary then axed the couple to death.

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