BHOPAL: A man murdered his maternal aunt and her husband in Anuppur district on Tuesday on suspicion that she was performing black magic on the family. he beheaded his aunt and buried the head in the belief that she “won’t come back as a ghost to haunt them”.

The accused, 43-year-old Shankhu Gond, was arrested on Wednesday, and told police that his maternal aunt was a witch.

On Tuesday, villagers of Dudhmania — around 12km from Anuppur district headquarters — alerted police to two bodies lying in the in jungles. One was 65-year-old Bhagwandin Gond. His body bore several stab injuries. They suspected that the other victim — a woman — was his wife, Beshani Gond, 60. But they couldn’t be sure as her head was missing.

Police sent the bodies for autopsy and began investigations. It didn’t take long for a suspect to emerge. Villagers had seen Shankhu with blood-stained weapons and clothes, police said. He was tracked down on Wednesday.

“During interrogation, he admitted that he killed his aunt because he believed she was doing black magic on his family. His son had fallen ill recently, and his cattle had died. He thought his aunt was responsible for everything bad happening to his family,” Anuppur additional SP Abhishek Rajan told TOI.

Police said Shankhu was stalking his aunt on Tuesday and followed her when she went to a nearby forest to relieve herself. He stabbed her and then cut off her head, police say. He realized that his uncle would come looking for her, and decided to kill him, too. He headed for Bhagwandin’s house and intercepted him midway when he had set out to search for his wife. “He murdered his maternal uncle for fear of getting caught,” Rajan said. After the double murder, Shankhu fled but was seen by some villagers.