Family Commit Suicide After Being Branded Witches

A family of five - a couple and their three girl children - committed suicide after they were branded as sorcerers by the villagers.

The bizarre incident occurred at Kandugula village under Huzurabad mandal of Karimnagar district on Monday.

Police said that the victims were identified as Ganta Komuraiah, 36, Komuramma, 34, and their children Yellamma, 10, Komaravva, 8, and Anjamma, 6.

Deeply hurt over the mental torture caused by the fellow villagers, the couple belonging to the Ganreddula community, first hanged their three children and later killed themselves in a similar manner.

Komaraiah visited his in-laws house in Kondapur village under Chigurumamidi mandal in the district, where the locals accused the couple of practicing sorcery. Some of the villagers had even physically attacked Komuraiah and Komuramma.

Dejected by the way they were treated, Komuraiah along with his family returned to Kandugula village and decided to end their lives. The couple first strangled their children to death and later committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan.

The bodies were shifted to the government hospital for autopsies. The police registered a case and launched an investigation.

Finance Minister Etela Rajender visited the government hospital and inspected the bodies. Condemning the incident, he said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the family's suicide pact.

He also directed the officials to bring about awareness among the people in the rural areas about rational thinking, and asked the people not to believe in superstitions like witchcraft.