Nineteen villagers, including five children, were massacred in two separate incidents yesterday in India's eastern state of Bihar, police said. Attackers killed 10 members of a family of Muslim beggars by slashing their throats, according to the police. The attack occurred while the 10 - six men, a woman and three children - slept in their hut on the outskirts of Jagdishpur, a village 115km north of the state capital Patna, said V K Jayant, inspector-general of police. In the other incident, at least nine villagers, including two children, were gunned down in their homes, police said. Gunmen opened fire on the villagers, who were from India's lower castes, before dawn in Siwan district, 170km northeast of Patna, police said. Jaglal Chowdhary, superintendent of police in the Jagdishpur area, said the slayings did not appear to be religiously motivated. He suggested they may have involved a personal dispute or were related to fighting between two rival groups from the area's Muslim community. The victims belonged to a family of beggars, said another police officer. **PHOTO CAPTION***