Odisha man arrested for sacrificing teenage sister to propitiate goddess
The girl’s father Musuru Rana demanded stringent punishment for his son.
A man, out on bail in connection with a case of human sacrifice, was arrested on Monday for killing his 12-year-old sister to appease a goddess, police in Odisha’s Balangir district said.
Janani Rana of Salebarat village had left her home with her 28-year-old brother Subhoban Rana, who was going to Khariar town in neighbouring Nuapada district, on December 24 last year.
After Janani did not come back, her family filed a missing persons report at Sindhekala police station. The villagers, however, doubted Subhoban was behind her disappearance as he had been accused of human sacrifice in 2018.
They gheraoed the Sindhekela police station demanding his arrest on December 25, after which the police questioned the Subhoban.
“The accused confessed to murdering his sister Janani to propitiate Goddess Durga. After he confessed to his crime, we arrested him and took our team to a forest where we recovered the girl’s headless body,” Bolangir’s superintendent of police Madkar Sandeep Sampat said.
Sampat said Subhoban and his accomplice Kunja were arrested for sacrificing the latter’s nine-year-old nephew in October 2018. Police said Subhoban was let out on bail a few days ago.
The girl’s father Musuru Rana demanded stringent punishment for his son.
The practise of human sacrifice was prevalent among many hill tribes of Odisha in pre-independence time, mostly among them Kandhs of Kandhamal district.
