MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - A man from the Volgograd Region in central Russia has been charged with the frenzied murder of his elderly mother in an apparent ritual murder, investigators said on Monday.

The 80-year-old woman, who lived with her son in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, died on Saturday after she was repeatedly stabbed in the chest with a sharpened wooden pole. Police said the son admitted murdering his mother for "being a witch."

"He thrust a sharpened wooden pole into the woman's chest at least ten times to be 100% sure," the local investigation committee said in a statement.

Relatives said that the woman was often subject to beatings by her son. Around a month before the attack the woman, in an attempt to prevent further attacks, told her unemployed son that she was a witch and would put a death spell on him if he beat her again.

A forensic examination revealed that white lines had been drawn on the floor of the house and needles had been stuck in the ceiling above the woman's bed.

The man faces from six to 15 years in prison if found guilty of the murder.