Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Police have been accused of letting a ‘witch’ escape after they arrested a woman with a cat who turned up in a homeowner’s kitchen but who they then released without charge before finding she had ‘stolen a broomstick’ and ‘vanished’ when they returned to question her later.

The spooky incident took place in the area of Alamos de Dagua in the western Colombian department of Valle del Cauca when local resident Blanca Florez suddenly heard strange noises coming from her kitchen.

According to the homeowner, the kitchen door would not open when she tried it and she could hear the meows of someone’s cat on the other side.

Scared out of her wits, she called the cops who arrived to find a woman with long hair and “a strange manner” sitting in the kitchen.

According to Florez, the woman appeared “ill”.

After questioning the intruder and realising that she was not a thief, the police reportedly decided to let her go and dropped her off at a cyber cafe.

A short time later, police officers showed up as they wanted to ask her some more questions.

However, workers told them that the woman had stolen a broom from the cyber cafe and mysteriously disappeared.

According to local media, she has not been seen in the area since.

The incident stunned the Florez family, who jumped to the conclusion that the mysterious woman must have been a witch, according to local media.

According to Florez’s daughter Yesica Zuniga, the paranormal visits did not stop there and a “terrifying black ball bounced around the house before disappearing” a few days after the strange woman’s visit.

Netizens seemed torn between whether she was a witch, possessed or simply another “loony coming out the woodwork”.

Social media user ‘Luis6129’ said: “A witch? no, she is only possessed. The difference is that witches can control the spirits possessing them.”

‘Vittofede’ commented: “She does have the face of one (a witch)…”