Note 180 — K (continued 5)

In 1904, a case illustrating the prevailing belief in witchcraft occurred in the Vizagapatam hill tracts. The youngest of three brothers died of fever, and, when the body was cremated, the fire failed to consume the upper portion. The brothers concluded that death must have been caused by the witchcraft of a certain Kondh. They accordingly attacked him, and killed him. After death, the brothers cut the body in half, and dragged the upper half to their own village, where they attempted to nail it up on the spot where their deceased brother’s body failed to burn. The accused were arrested on the spot, with the fragment of the Kondh’s corpse. They were sentenced to death, and the sentence was confirmed by the High Court.180