Why do people die because they do not understand their life and struggle to fit into society. You are going to be here on earth till you finish your karma. Maybe this earth is hell for some other planet. Who knows?.
In the ancient world enemies are hanged because it was believed they should float in air without getting a proper burial place and it is also considered as sacrifice to the God Wotan.
I heard wise people saying ghosts always prefer women to catch coz through them they can re-enter the wheel of existence. It was believed some ghosts come back home and disturb their relations, in those cases they build a similar house in-between the home and the grave and catch it, do ritual then burn that house.
Sometimes it was feared the ghosts had come to villages and stolen certain things without trace. We know the witch carrying the symbol of brooms is nothing but normally witches are allowed to stay far away from the villages near to the forest. These witches come to villages at nights and steal, using their brooms to remove their traces. Hence whenever they found a witch villager would burn her. These burned witches turn into deadly ghosts and float in the air and cause cyclone to revenge..