The ritual sacrifice by black magic of a seven-year-old boy has sparked outrage in India after it emerged the child was murdered to bring good luck at a school.
The victim was found dead in his bed on Sunday evening at the hostel where he lived in the city of Hathras, not far from the famous Taj Mahal.
Police said on Friday that the school’s owner, Jasodhan Singh, his son, Dinesh Baghel, who was the school’s principal, and three teachers have been arrested in the case.
Instead of alerting authorities, police said Baghel hid the body in the trunk of his car.
Police officer Himanshu Mathur revealed that the boy was murdered before a black magic ceremony conducted by Baghel’s father.
A seven-year-old boy from India was killed during a ritual sacrifice for good luck at a school
Police said five people, including a teacher and his father, have been arrested in northern India over the killing
“The boy was meant to be brought to an altar as part of a ritual, but he was killed before the ceremony could be completed,” he said.
Baghel and his father were arrested from the school along with three other teachers, Mathur added.
Mathur gave no further details on how the child died and local media reports said the body was undergoing a post-mortem examination.
India’s National Crime Records Bureau has filed 103 human sacrifice cases in the country between 2014 and 2021.
Ritual killings are usually performed to appease gods and are more common in tribal and remote areas, where belief in witchcraft and the occult is widespread.
Last year, police arrested five men for the 2019 murder of a 64-year-old woman who was killed and beheaded with a machete after visiting a temple in India’s remote northeast.
Police said the alleged ringleader had performed a religious rite to mark the anniversary of his brother’s death.