Three suspects have been detained in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia over the killing of a 52-year-old man who was shot dead in his home in the town of Sunzha. According to media reports citing sources, the attack may have been motivated by one suspect's belief that the victim had cast a curse on his brother.

The killing took place on July 29. According to Russia's Investigative Committee, several men entered the victim's home in Sunzha, where one of the attackers fired at least three shots. The homeowner died at the scene, and the assailants fled.

Law enforcement officers later detained three suspects and brought them to the local investigative department. A criminal case has been opened under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers murder.

According to the Telegram news outlet Baza, the alleged motive was linked to accusations of witchcraft. One of the detainees reportedly believed the victim had placed a curse on his brother and decided to kill the alleged "sorcerer" in the hope of lifting what he saw as the curse.

Baza reported that the suspect enlisted two acquaintances to carry out the attack. One allegedly acted as the getaway driver, while the other entered the victim's home wearing a mask together with the suspected gunman. The Investigative Committee has not officially confirmed this version of the motive.

Accusations of witchcraft and practices considered forbidden under Islam have repeatedly triggered conflicts, persecution and killings across Russia's North Caucasus.

In neighbouring Chechnya, 55-year-old mullah Abdurakhim Gakayev was shot dead in 2024 in the courtyard of his home in front of his young son. The suspect, Turpal-Ali Shamurzayev, filmed the killing on his mobile phone before being detained. According to media reports, Shamurzayev had believed for several years that Gakayev had used witchcraft against him. Before the murder, he had publicly called for action against alleged sorcerers and appealed to the Chechen authorities on the issue.

Ingushetia itself witnessed a high-profile attack in 2021 on a woman believed to be a fortune teller and her husband. According to law enforcement authorities, the couple were assaulted in the regional capital, Magas, and the woman was hospitalised. Media reports linked the attack to a movement that had emerged in the republic advocating a campaign against alleged practitioners of witchcraft. Two suspects were later detained.

Violence against people accused of witchcraft or non-traditional healing practices had been recorded in Ingushetia even earlier. In 2006, a woman known for practising alternative healing was shot dead in her home in what was then the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, now the town of Sunzha. Media reports at the time said that a well-known traditional healer had also been killed in the republic the previous year.

A series of similar killings was also reported in neighbouring Karachay-Cherkessia in the mid-2000s. In 2006, local media reported that seven healers had been killed, including three Muslim clerics.

In Dagestan, armed men stormed the home of a woman in the village of Rubas who was described as a fortune teller in 2015. She and several people present in the house were killed. The republic had previously seen attacks targeting alleged healers and fortune tellers as well.

The most systematic campaign against alleged witchcraft has taken place in Chechnya, where it has repeatedly formed part of public campaigns backed by the authorities. Human rights groups have documented detentions of people accused of practising magic or fortune telling, while state television has broadcast footage of their public "confessions" and apologies.

One such campaign took place in 2019, when two women and a man were detained in the Urus-Martan district on accusations of practising witchcraft. They were shown on regional television and compelled to publicly explain themselves. In 2022, police in the Gudermes district detained another man on similar allegations, after which both he and people who had sought his services were publicly reprimanded by representatives of local religious authorities.

If investigators confirm that accusations of witchcraft were the motive behind the Sunzha killing, the case would reflect a long-standing pattern seen in parts of the North Caucasus, where allegations of curses, sorcery or fortune telling have at times led not only to public intimidation and humiliation but also to vigilante violence and extrajudicial killings. At present, however, any link between the murder and alleged witchcraft is based solely on media reports citing sources and has not been officially confirmed by investigators.