In a shocking case in India, five people were arrested for the murder of a seven-year-old boy in an alleged ritual sacrifice intended to bring good fortune to a public school.
The incident occurred in the city of Hathras, near the famous Taj Mahal, where the boy was found dead in his bed at a school hostel on Sunday night.
Instead of reporting the death to the authorities, the school director, Dinesh Baghel, allegedly concealed the body in the trunk of his car.
According to police officer Himanshu Mathur, the child was meant to be part of a black magic ritual performed by Baghel’s father. However, the boy died before the ritual could take place.
Baghel, his father, and three other teachers from the school were arrested in connection with the crime. The exact cause of the child’s death has not yet been disclosed, as the body is undergoing a post-mortem examination.
India has seen incidents of ritual killings linked to beliefs in witchcraft and the occult, particularly in rural and tribal regions. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, 103 cases of human sacrifice were recorded between 2014 and 2021.
Last year, police arrested five men for the 2019 murder of a 64-year-old woman, who was killed and decapitated as part of a ritual in India’s remote northeast.
Such incidents continue to raise concerns about the persistence of superstitious beliefs and the practice of ritualistic violence in certain parts of the country.
