Child sacrifice cases stun India

Nov 25, 2010, 10:03 GMT

New Delhi - Police in India's central state of Chhattisgarh have arrested seven people for allegedly sacrificing two children to gain 'supernatural powers,' officials said Thursday.

Witch-doctor Ishwari Yadav, his wife Kiranbai and five of their disciples were arrested after police found the bodies of a 2-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl at their home in Durg district Wednesday.

'The boy was killed on Tuesday and the girl was murdered some six months ago,' district police chief Amit Kumar said in a telephone interview. '(The suspects) were arrested for holding human sacrifices and have confessed their crimes.'

'During questioning the couple admitted that they had offered the sacrifices for appeasing the Hindu goddess Kali and attaining occult powers and wealth,' Kumar said.

According to Kumar, the murders which have caused outrage in the region, were uncovered after the boy's father alerted the police when his son went missing.

During the investigation, the police determined that the boy was last spotted at Yadav's house.

The police raided the house and found the body of the child buried under an idol in a worship room.

The police, who seized a knife used for the crime, later also found the skeletal remains of the girl.

Human sacrifice has long been banned in India, but cases have been reported from underdeveloped regions where superstitions hold sway.

In April, the beheaded body of a factory worker was found in a Kali temple in West Bengal state.

Kali is widely worshipped across India and has several forms, including that of a benevolent mother figure and a dark and violent destroyer of evil wearing a garland of skulls.

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