Ludhiana: Labourer arrested over ‘human sacrifice’ of 4-year-old

The accused slit the child’s throat with a sharp-edged weapon during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday for better fortune as advised by a sorcerer, police said

A labourer has been arrested for kidnapping and murdering a 4-year-old boy in what appears to be a case of human sacrifice, police said.

The accused is an acquaintance of the parents of the victim. The accused was reportedly under the influence of drugs.

The accused slit the child’s throat with a sharp-edged weapon during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday for better fortune as advised by a sorcerer, police added.

The police added that the accused’s neighbours noticed blood spilled all around his house and raised an alarm. The City Khanna police reached the spot and initiated the investigation. The police recovered the body of the victim near the labour quarters.

The police later arrested the accused, identified as Arvinder Kumar, 23, of Alaur village of Khanna, who hailed from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.

“The accused is an acquaintance of the parents of the victim. The accused was reportedly under the influence of drugs. He also seems to be mentally disturbed,” police said.

Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said that an Alaur village resident complained at 1 am that his 4-year-old son, who was sleeping in their rented accommodation in labour quarters, went missing under mysterious circumstances.

On being informed, the police reached the spot and initiated an investigation. The police later recovered the dead body of the child near a labour quarter.

Superintendent of police (investigation) Pragya Jain said that during police inquiries, residents of the labourer quarters informed that they had seen blood spilled in the courtyard of the accused house.

“We formed several teams and arrested the accused within four hours. The accused was trying to escape,” the SP said.

“During questioning the accused confessed his crime. A case under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC has been lodged against the accused at City Khanna police station,” she added.

Inspector Hemant Malhotra, SHO at City police station, said that the accused was reportedly under the influence of drugs. “The accused stated that while the deceased’s family was sleeping he barged into their rented accommodation and kidnapped the child. Later, he slit his throat with a knife. Assuming that the neighbours had been alerted by the cries of the victim, he dumped the dead body and went to his room,” the SHO added.

The Inspector added that the accused told police that a sorcerer had told him to make a human sacrifice for better fortune, so he kidnapped the boy.

The accused is married and has a 1-year-old son. The victim was the youngest of three siblings.