Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
In a chilling case from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly killed as part of a human sacrifice ritual, with her 35-year-old mother, the mother’s lover, and a self-styled ‘tantrik’ (occult practitioner) among those arrested.
The incident took place on the night of March 24 in Kusumbha village from where the girl had gone missing during Mangla Julus (a Ram Navami procession) that evening. Her body was found the next morning, around 8.30 am, in a bamboo grove behind a local middle school.
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Based on a written complaint filed by the victim’s mother, a case was initially registered against one Dhaneshwar Paswan and others under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Pocso Act. However, the investigation soon took a dramatic turn.
Acting on the directions of the Jharkhand Director General of Police and the Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on March 26. During the probe, police relied on technical evidence and sustained questioning to uncover what they described as a ‘shocking’ sequence of events rooted in superstition.
According to police, a local woman identified as 55-year-old Shanti Devi, also known as ‘Bhagtin’, who claimed to practise occult rituals, had convinced the victim’s mother that her son’s illness and the family’s problems could be resolved through a human sacrifice. She allegedly insisted that a “virgin girl” be offered as part of the ritual, and persuaded the mother to bring her own daughter.
Officials said the mother had been in contact with the tantrik for nearly three months and was told to carry out the ritual on Durga Ashtami during the Ram Navami period.
On the night of the incident, the mother, along with her lover Bheem Ram (40), took the girl to the tantrik’s house under the pretext of a puja. After initial rituals, the child was taken to a bamboo grove nearby.
Police said Bheem Ram strangled the girl, while the mother allegedly held her legs as she struggled. The police claimed that the tantrik inserted a wooden stick inside the girl’s private parts, while Bhim Ram struck her head to get the blood for the ritual.
The body was then left at the spot.
All accused have since been arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Bhim Ram, police said, also faces allegations of murdering his sister-in-law and another person.
Police have described the crime as a gruesome example of the dangers posed by blind faith and harmful superstitions.
– Ends
(With inputs from Bismay Alankar.)
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
