A 40-year-old woman was beaten mercilessly and forced to consume human excreta after being declared a witch in Purani Chowk area of Samastipur district, police said today.
A group of villagers held one Sita Devi responsible for the death of a local and after removing her clothes beat her up with lathis and later forced her to consume excreta on Sunday, police said.
The attackers alleged the woman with practising witch-craft and held her responsible for the death of Ashok Kumar, who was ill for a long time and had died in a Delhi hospital on Saturday.
The victim has lodged an FIR against six persons of the same locality with Rosera police station of the district in this connection, police said adding raids were being conducted to nab the accused.