Chatra, Nov 14 An eight-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her relatives as part of a human sacrifice ritual on Kali Puja in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, police said on Saturday.
Superintendent of Police Animesh Naithany said three persons have been arrested in connection with the case.
“The girl went missing on November 8. After failing to trace her, her mother lodged a missing persons’ complaint at Pratappur police station on November 11. Her body was recovered from a paddy field on November 13, around 150 metres from her house,” Naithany said.
The investigation revealed that the child was killed due to superstition, he said.
“The victim’s aunt allegedly practised witchcraft and sorcery at home. She, along with her husband’s elder brother and nephew, sacrificed the girl on the night of Amavasya to attain spiritual powers,” Naithany said.
The SP said the accused also had an old enmity with the victim’s family.
Police said they recovered a blood-stained sickle, a trowel, an iron chisel, broken red bangles, blood-stained leaves of the Palash tree, the victim’s clothes, and vermilion, perfume, rose water, incense and turmeric allegedly used in the ritual from the accused’s house.
The SP further alleged that the accused had assaulted the girl’s genitals with a bamboo stick to make it appear that she had suffered sexual violence.
“All three have admitted to the crime. We are also searching for a Maulvi (cleric) from Bihar who trained the accused,” he said.
Police said the girl was allegedly strangled as part of the ritual, and her body was subsequently dumped in the paddy field.
(PTI News)
