An 11-year-old boy studying in Class 2 was killed as a part of an alleged ‘black magic’ human sacrificial ritual by the owners of his school to make the educational institute “more prosperous” in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district last week.
According to the police, the boy, identified as Kritarth, was studying at DL Public School.
The school's owner, Jasodhan Singh, who is said to believe in ‘tantrik’ rituals, had asked his son (the school's director), Dinesh Baghel, to sacrifice a child for the “prosperity” of the school and his family, the police said.
On September 23, the father-son duo, along with three other staff members, abducted the victim from the school's hostel and took him to a secluded place for the sacrifice, Ashok Kumar Singh, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Hathras, told news agency PTI.
However, the boy woke up and began crying.
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Following this, the accused people strangulated the boy and killed him, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, the accused people strangulated the boy and killed him, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}According to the police, the accused told the child's parents that their son was being taken to a hospital in Baghel's car as he was not well. However, family members of the child stopped the car mid-way and found out about their son's death. They immediately informed the police.
5 people arrested
The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested five people in the case – the school owner, Jasodhan Singh, director Dinesh Baghel, principal Laxman Singh, and two other teachers, Ramprakash Solanki and Veerpal Singh.
An FIR has been registered against them under section 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In a similar incident, a mother-daughter duo was arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar in May for killing two children - aged four and seven - as a part of a human sacrifice. According to the police, the accused performed the sacrificial rituals on the suggestion of a Tantrik to get rid of ‘aatma’ (soul)’ residing in on of their bodies.