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Hazaribagh girl’s death: Woman ‘sacrificed’ minor for ailing son, 3 held
A 35-year-old woman was arrested along with two others for allegedly killing her 13-year-old daughter in a ‘sacrificial’ ritual in Kushumbha village under Bishungarh police station of Hazaribagh district, officials said on Thursday
A 35-year-old woman was arrested along with two others for allegedly killing her 13-year-old daughter in a ‘sacrificial’ ritual in Kushumbha village under Bishungarh police station of Hazaribagh district, officials said on Thursday.
Those arrested include victims’ mother Reshmi Devi, 55-year-old Shanti Devi, an occultist, and 40-year-old Bhim Ram, all of them from the same village.
The matter concerns the recovery of the girl’s mutilated body from a village field on March 25. Reshmi had subsequently registered a case with Bishungarh police station alleging that the girl might have been raped before being killed. The girl allegedly went missing when she went to see Ram Navami procession a night before.
Following the widespread anger among the locals and demonstrations by political parties, Jharkhand DGP instituted a special investigation team (SIT) that finally cracked the case leading to the arrest of the three on Wednesday.
Officials said the victim was the youngest among three sisters and one brother. Their father worked in Maharashtra. Hazaribagh SP Anjani Anjan said Reshmi Devi often visited a ‘tantrik’ (occult practitioner) in her village to treat her 16-yr-old son, who suffered from a mental and physical illness.
“The occultist told the mother that they needed to sacrifice a virgin girl to cure the son. On March 24, the night of Ashtami, while the entire village was immersed in festive celebrations and witnessing the Mangla Julus (a Ram Navami procession), the girl was strangled at Shanti Devi’s house, allegedly by her own mother and Bhim Ram,” the SP said.
In a statement detailing the allegations against the accused, police claimed the tantrik inserted a wooden stick inside the girl’s private parts, while Bhim Ram struck her head to obtain blood for the ritual. After killing her, they threw away the body in a garden.
Sharing the details of the investigation, SP Anjani Anjan said the three tried to mislead investigators by claiming rape, which was not proven in the postmortem and forensic reports. “Bhim Ram also faces allegations of murdering his sister-in-law and another individual,” Anjan added.
As the investigation lingered, the Jharkhand HC bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad took suo motu cognisance on Monday of the alleged rape and murder of the girl and served a notice to the state administration and the director general of police. Hazaribagh SP Anjani Anjan appeared virtually before the bench and submitted a status report on the investigations.
The issue also raised the political temperatures in the state, with the opposition BJP staging a 12-hour bandh in Hazaribagh on Monday to protest the killing. The party called for a Jharkhand Bandh on April 9 if the culprits were not arrested till then.
Union women and child welfare minister Annapurna Devi and Jharkhand finance minister Radha Krishna Kishore, besides several others, visited the family to show solidarity. The finance minister provided the family with financial assistance of ₹1 lakh.
