At least 18 tribal villagers in India's northeast were arrested for hacking to death a man they suspected of practicing witchcraft, police said Saturday.
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They claimed they were told to kill the victim by a Hindu goddess who appeared in their dreams.
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Mobs have killed at least 200 people over the past five years who they have accused of practising sorcery and witchcraft — mainly in tribal- dominated areas of western and northern Assam state, Indian police say.
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The killing took place on Friday at a tea estate village in Assam's Cachar district, 300 kilometres (180 miles) south of the impoverished state's main city of Guwahati.
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Cachar district police chief Diganta Bora told AFP by telephone that the attack was "barbaric with a group of hysterical villagers sacrificing the man by piercing his neck with sharp weapons and chanting religious hymns".