india

Updated: Jan 11, 2014 03:04 IST

A man beheaded an elderly woman and walked into the police station with the severed head in one hand and an axe in the other at a village in Madhya Pradesh.

Hari Shank Gond alias Jhurru (30) decapitated a 62-year-old woman on Friday afternoon for taking away a log from a Mahua tree he had felled in his field at Pand village in Bundelkhand region.

After hacking her with his axe, Jhurru picked up the head along with the weapon. He walked 4 kilometres to Majhauli police station in order to confess.

Eyewitnesses said a couple of women passing by on the road fainted after seeing the head in Jhurru’s hands.

“The accused walked around 4 kilometres with the head of the deceased. When he was about to reach the police station, we were informed and he was arrested,” said AN Jharia, station house officer, Majhauli police station.

Jhurru told police that he had got into a brawl with the woman, called Meerawati Gond, over the log.

Had he not murdered her, she would have killed him by witchcraft, Jhurru said.

“The accused appeared mentally stable but had no regrets about the crime. He alleged that the woman had killed his family members in the past couple of years with her witchcraft,” the officer said.

Police have sent the body for postmortem and booked Jhurru for murder.