Man accused of sorcery beaten to death

​Arvapalli: Suspecting witchcraft, a gang of four thrashed a man and his family members besides extracting all his teeth at Tungagudem village of Arvapalli mandal of Suryapet district on Tuesday night.

According to family members and locals, four members came on bikes and kidnapped Somaiah, when he was returning home after purchasing tobacco from a local shop. Kidnappers detained him in a house and extracted his teeth after beating him black and blue.

Soon Somaiah became unconscious. Seeing his condition, kidnappers thought he was dead. Later, they all reached Somaiah’s house and thrashed his wife Parvathamma and son Ramesh.

Terrified Ramesh fled away from the village and informed the same to the SI Mohan Reddy over the phone, who along with police personnel rushed to the village and collected the details from victim’s family.

Police found Somaiah in a pool of blood in a house in the village. They shifted him to Suryapet area hospital. After preliminary treatment, on the advice of doctors, Somaiah was shifted to Hyderabad for better treatment. However, he breathed his last while undergoing treatment.

His dead body was brought to village on Wednesday and cremated. Police lodged a case against the accused Naresh, Saidulu, Suman and Laxman based on the complaint of Ramesh. Further investigation is on into the case.