This is not the first time Raimat Tudu has been in trouble. She was ostracised and driven out of the village a couple of years ago and could go home only with a police escort.

On Friday night, Tudu was alone in her house. Her son Laxmiram and her daughter Alo had gone to a relative's house in a nearby village to celebrate the Badna festival.

Around midnight, about 50 villagers, armed with sharp weapons, attacked her house.

They dragged her into the courtyard and butchered her — severing her arms, legs and head. The maimed body remained there for a day. On Saturday evening, police recovered the body, which was sent for postmortem today.

“The body bore multiple wounds. I cannot confirm if she was branded a witch. We have filed a case of murder and the body has been sent for postmortem,” said Sujit Sarkar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Malda.

Police suspect that her stepsons had instigated the villagers. “The victim’s family has given statements that indicate that her stepsons had a hand in the incident. We are not ruling it out,” said an officer of Gajol police station.

Tudu had inherited three bighas of agricultural land, in which her two steps sons, Som and Rafi, wanted a share. The woman and her stepsons were always bickering over the land.