The black magic ritual sacrifice of a seven-year-old boy has sparked outrage in India after the child was reportedly k!lled to bring good fortune to a school.
According to Mail Online, the victim was found d£ad in his bed on Sunday night, September 22, at the hostel where he lived in the city of Hathras.
Police said Friday that the owner of the school, Jasodhan Singh, his son, Dinesh Baghel, who was the director of the school, and three teachers, have been arrested in the case.
Cops said that Baghel hid the body in the trunk of his car instead of alerting authorities.
Police officer Himanshu Mathur revealed that the boy was killed before a black magic ceremony conducted by Baghel’s father.
‘The boy was meant to be taken to an altar as part of a ritual, but got killed before the ceremony could be completed,’ he said.
Baghel and his father were arrested along with three other teachers at the school, Mathur added.
Mathur did not give further details on how the child had died and local media reports said the body was undergoing a post-mortem examination.
According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 103 cases of human sacrifice were lodged in the country between 2014 and 2021.
Ritual k!llings are usually conducted to appease deities and are more common in tribal and remote areas in India.