Mutilated body of 4-year-old girl raises human sacrifice fears in Gurgaon

GURGAON: A four-year-old-girl missing since Sunday was found dead in Gurgaon on Wednesday with her mutilated body prompting her family to allege she had been used

GURGAON: A four-year-old-girl missing since Sunday was found dead in Gurgaon on Wednesday with her mutilated body prompting her family to allege she had been used as a human sacrifice by a tantric.

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The girl’s tongue had been cut, her nose slashed, her head shaved and kajal applied on her eyes and vermillion on her forehead and lips, and she was missing an eye, an ear and a hand. The body was found near some huts in the Kadipur area near Pataudi Road where she lived with her family.

The police filed a murder case and detained a local shopkeeper after her family alleged he earlier tried to buy the girl. “He offered me Rs 4 lakh for my daughter last week, which I refused. We suspect he abducted her and sold her to someone for tantric practice,” the victim’s father, a mason, said.

The police, however, said a preliminary investigation indicated the body may have been eaten by animals. “He (the shopkeeper) is a suspect but we need evidence to book him. The preliminary post-mortem report indicates the body was eaten by some animal. Human sacrifice is not confirmed,” said investigating office Naresh Kumar. The autopsy team found the injuries consistent with animal bite marks, but said a forensic test was required for confirmation. A member of the team said the girl was strangled to death, and did not rule out the possibility of sexual assault.

“This is how she has come back,” her father said as he and his relatives staged a protest on Pataudi Road.

Tuesday was Gupt Ashtami, which according to Hindu scriptures is the night tantric practices are performed to fulfil specific wishes.