At least three people were arrested in Odisha's Sundergarh district on Tuesday for parading three women and an elderly man naked in a village for allegedly practising witchcraft, police said.
The inhuman act occurred at Kiralaga village under Subdega block, about 450 km from state capital Bhubaneswar on Monday.
RN Padhi, inspector in charge of the local police station said some residents felt sick recently and they believed that the illness was caused by the witchcraft on them by three village women and the man.
In a kangaroo court, the villagers assaulted the three women (aged between 50-55 years) and the man aged 60, blackened their faces and paraded them naked across the street, while a villager beat a drum, he said.
Police rushed to the spot after getting information from its sources and rescued the victims. All the three people (aged between 20-25 years) who led the mob have been arrested, Padhi said.