Ranchi,   Four people including three women of a family were tortured after being accused of witchcraft in Jharkhand's Dumka district.

A few people from Aswari village under Saraiyahat block of the district forcibly fed them excreta and urine. The four were also tortured with hot iron rods.

Despite being treated inhumanly, the victims could neither muster the courage to go to the police nor tell anyone about the atrocities inflicted on them.

On Sunday, police reached the village after getting information about the incident. After this, all the four victims were admitted to a hospital for treatment.

According to information, a person named Jyotin Murmu called a meeting of the people of the village on Saturday night. In the meeting, three women of one Srilal Murmu's family were accused of being witches.

It was claimed that the animals and children of the village were getting sick due to their witchcraft. After this, about a dozen people armed with sticks and other weapons attacked the victims' house.

Three women of the family, Sonamani Tudu, Rasi Murmu, Kosa Tudu as well as Srilal Murmu were brutally thrashed. After this, all four were caught and excreta and urine were forcibly put in their mouths. They were also thrashed with hot iron rods.

The victims were reportedly threatened that the entire family would be killed if they reported the incident to the police. On Sunday morning, the victims were thrashed again.

Meanwhile, Saraiyahat police station in-charge Vinay Kumar got information about the incident and a police team was sent to the village. The four people were first admitted to the Saraiyahat Community Health Centre. However, considering their critical condition, they were shifted to Deoghar for further treatment.

Raids are being conducted to arrest the attackers, the police said.