Hyderabad: A couple has been arrested by the Rachakonda police on the outskirts of Hyderabad after they sacrificed a three month baby to ward of ‘evil spirits’, reported the Hindustan Times.
The crime took place last month.
The police have arrested 40-year-old cab driver Kerukonda Rajasekhar and his wife, K Srilatha (35), for allegedly sacrificing the infant to appease “evil forces” on the night of January 31, which coincided with a lunar eclipse.
The baby girl was kidnapped by Rajasekhar when she was sleeping with her parents on a pavement. Her severed head was found on the terrace of the cabbie’s home on Feb 1.
According to the police, Rajshekhar had been worried about his wife’s health from the past several years. Being a superstitious man, the couple went to Sammakka Saralamma tribal festival where he met a ‘Koya Dora’ (sorcerer).
According to the police, he was advised by the sorcerer to perform girl child’s ‘Narbali’ (human sacrifice), an act which will heal his wife.
He tried to take ‘second opinion’ from other supposed black magic practitioners but to no avail. Then on the night of Jan 31, he kidnapped the girl and headed towards Musi river near Pratapa Singaram village.
“Around 2 am, Rajashekar beheaded the girl child, threw the torso and his knife into the river, and waited for about half an hour for the bleeding to stop. He then returned home with the severed head in a polythene bag,” Bhagawat said.
Later that night, he and Srilatha allegedly performed the ‘kshudra puja’ – a ritual for warding off evil spirits – with the severed head placed on a makeshift altar in his living room. “After the puja was done, Rajashekar took the severed head of the infant to the terrace and kept in its southwest corner to ensure that the moonlight and early morning rays fall on it,” Bhagawat said.
“We have taken the accused and his wife into custody. It was only after interrogating them that we managed to crack the case,” Bhagawat said.
