Mob set afire couple alleging sorcery

They suffer more than 80% burns

In a shocking incident, an irate mob in Dubback attempted to set afire a couple on Thursday for allegedly practising sorcery. The incident took place at BC Colony in Dubbak, the constituency headquarters represented by senior legislator S. Ramalinga Reddy.

According to Siddipet Police Commissioner V. Siva Kumar, some locals tied K. Sudarshan (56) and his wife K. Rajeswari (52) to a pole near their house and beat them mercilessly for ‘practising black magic’.

Police rush to spot

Later, they poured kerosene on the hapless couple and set them on fire. Alerted by Sudarshan’s son, police rushed to the spot and shifted the badly injured couple first to the district hospital in Siddipet and later to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.

Police quoting Gandhi doctors claimed that the couple suffered more than 80 per cent burns and were battling for life.

The police suspect the role of K. Srinivas, brother of Sudarshan in inciting the mob against the couple. Dubbak police registered a case and are investigating. A picket was set up at Dubbak to prevent any untoward incident and special teams were formed to nab the accused.