Dhading, May 23

As many as 26 persons, who had been in judicial custody after murdering two fellow villagers acting as shamans in Latab of Ganga Jamuna Rural Municipality-2, Dhading, have been slapped with prison sentences.

A single bench of District Judge Prakash Dhungana delivered the verdict yesterday. Four women arrested in the case were cleared of murder charge.

After Narung Tamang, 65, and Plek Tamang, 45, of the village died from the thrashing of villagers in June, police had launched a probe by arresting 30 persons, including four women.

According to government attorney Balkrishna Wagle, while 11 persons got life imprisonment, as many were slapped with a sentence of five-and-a-half years. Another man has got three-and-a-half years in prison. Three 17-year-olds in the case have been told to serve three years and eight months in prison.