In a shocking incident in India, five individuals have been arrested in connection with the alleged ritual sacrifice of a seven-year-old boy, aimed at bringing good fortune to a public school. The boy’s body was discovered on Sunday night in a hostel in Hathras, a city near the Taj Mahal, police said on Friday.
Authorities revealed that the school’s director, Dinesh Baghel, attempted to conceal the crime by hiding the boy’s body in the boot of his car rather than reporting the incident to the police. According to police officer Himanshu Mathur, the boy was murdered ahead of a black magic ritual orchestrated by Baghel’s father.
“The boy was meant to be taken to an altar as part of a ritual but was killed before the ceremony could be completed,” Mathur explained.
Baghel, his father, and three teachers from the school have been arrested in connection with the murder.
India’s National Crime Records Bureau reported 103 cases of human sacrifice in the country between 2014 and 2021. These acts are often tied to superstitious beliefs in tribal and remote areas, where practices of witchcraft and black magic persist.
In another grim case last year, five men were arrested for the 2019 killing of a 64-year-old woman who was decapitated as part of a religious ritual in India’s northeast. The ringleader reportedly carried out the murder as part of a rite to commemorate the anniversary of his brother’s death.
