Five people, including two women and a priest, were arrested by Nelamangala Rural police on Sunday. They allegedly tried to sacrifice a 10-year-old girl to "ward off evil" on an agricultural land.
The victim was allegedly kidnapped when she was playing in front of a house in Gandhi Grama near Nelamangala, Karnataka, reported New Indian Express.
A senior police officer said that a complaint was filed after which a detailed probe was conducted. Then the five accused were detained by Nelamangala police. An FIR was registered under Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, kidnapping and criminal intimidation.
The girl has been staying with her grandmother and studying in fourth grade at a government school. Her parents who are laborers were staying in Magadi. In a complaint parents alleged that their neighbor Savithramma and her daughter Soumya took the girl on the pretext of giving sacred food (prasad). They also made her wear garland to perform rituals.
Her grandmother could not find her around the house and went looking for her. Later, she found her screaming with the accused at the adjacent field. After being rescued, the girl narrated the incident which happened on June 14. It indicated that the five people were trying to sacrifice her. The family alleged that the accused wanted to sacrifice the child to ward off evil.
During interrogation, the accused said that they proposed to build a Chamundi and Muneshwara temple in their field. The priest had advised to get a ritual done by a minor girl for the foundation stone laying ceremony.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim alleged that the accused are threatening the couple to withdraw the case. They also slammed police for not taking action and letting off the accused every day after inquiry. Earlier, they were reportedly threatened not to file a case. The incident became known on Saturday and police acted soon after registering a case.
In a similar incident in April, an educated woman from Telangana sacrificed her six-month-old daughter to ward off evil spirits. The accused, identified as B Bharathi, holds a degree in B.Sc as well as B.Ed. She was preparing for a police job.
Around eight years ago, she married a man from Telangana's Mahabubabad area. But they parted ways soon after the wedding. Later, she got into a relationship with a man named Krishna, and had a daughter together, reported India Today.
Recently, Bharathi started watching a lot of spiritual videos on YouTube. One day when Krishna went to Suryapet for work and his parents were at the farm, Bharathi sacrificed her daughter Ritu to God. After some time, Bharathi roamed around by herself. Krishna and his parents asked the whereabouts of Ritu. On reaching home, they found the girl dead with her throat slit.
Her family members informed the police who took Bharathi into custody and registered a case against her.
