4-year-old killed in human sacrifice in UP's Amethi, child's stepmother, occultist arrested

Four people have been arrested in UP's Amethi after a 4-year-old boy was found dead in a pond with injuries sustained during "tantric" rituals.

A four-year-old boy was allegedly killed at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district in a suspected case of human sacrifice, police said on Wednesday, adding that four people, including the child’s stepmother and a man described as an occultist, were arrested.

Amethi SP Elamaran G said the boy went out to play on Sunday but did not return home that day (Representational image)

According to the police, the boy’s stepmother was told that a child had to be sacrificed so that she could bear one of her own. The body of the boy, Satyendra, was found in a pond at Rehsi village under Jamo police station limits on Monday with injuries on eyes, ears, cheeks, chin and right elbow.

The police said the injuries were caused while performing “tantric” (occult) rituals.

Amethi superintendent of police (SP) Elamaran G said the boy went out to play on Sunday but did not return home that day. His father Jitendra Prajapati lodged a missing complaint around 3 am on Monday.

“Hours later, a villager Dhan Bahadur informed the boy’s father that Satyendra’s body was found floating in a nearby pond,” the SP said. “Based on suspicion, Jitendra lodged a complaint against his wife Renu Prajapati (30), father-in-law Mangru Prajapati (55), mother-in-law Prema Devi (53) and the occultist Dayaram Yadav (65).”

A case was registered against the accused under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and later charges under sections 201 (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) were added, the SP said.

According to the police, Renu and Jitendra got married around a year-and-a-half ago after the latter’s first wife left him. During interrogation, Renu’s parents told the police that since their daughter remained ill most of the time after her marriage and also suffered a miscarriage, they contacted occultist Dayaram Yadav, the SP said. Yadav told them that Jitendra’s first child had to be sacrificed for Renu to conceive, the SP added.

Vivek Kumar Singh, in-charge, Jamo police station, said Mangru and Prema Devi confessed to their crime during interrogation. The police also recovered a towel used in strangling the child to death, a few lemons, nutmegs and other items used in occultism from the site of the crime.

(With inputs from agency)