September 27, (THEWILL) – Police in India have arrested five suspects for the killing of a seven-year-old class 2 pupil in an alleged ritual sacrifice aimed at bringing good fortune to a D L Public School, Rasgawan.
Police officer, Hathras SP Nipun Agarwal, on Friday, said that the victim was found dead in his bed on Sunday night at the hostel where he lived in the city of Hathras, not far from the country’s famed Taj Mahal. Instead of alerting authorities, police said the school director, Dinesh Baghel, hid the body in the trunk of his car.
Agarwal said the school director Dinesh Baghel, his father Jashodhan Singh, and three teachers including Laxman Singh, Veerpal Singh, and Ramprakash Solanki, were involved in the murder.
Police said the five had tried to kill another boy in the recent past, although the attempt was not successful.
“The boy was sacrificed as part of a ritual for the school’s supposed success and glory. We are investigating if any other individuals were involved in the murder”, Agarwal told newsmen on Friday.
Agarwal told newsmen that the boy was killed before a black magic ceremony conducted by Baghel’s father.
“The boy was meant to be taken to an altar as part of a ritual, but got killed before the ceremony could be completed”, he said.
While details are sketchy on how the child had died, local media reports said the body was undergoing a post-mortem examination.
Last year police arrested five men for the 2019 murder of a 64-year-old woman who was killed and decapitated with a machete after visiting a temple in India’s remote northeast.
Police had said the alleged ringleader had been conducting a religious rite to mark the anniversary of his brother’s death.
India’s National Crime Records Bureau lodged 103 cases of human sacrifice in the country between 2014 and 2021.
