Assam police suspect human sacrifice in child's murder, father held

Assam's Sivsagar district have detained three persons including father of the victim for their alleged involvement in a possible human sacrifice. Police said that the arrest is related to the missing and subsequent murder of a four-year-old girl. The child went missing since the night of August 8 and the police recovered the dead body from Silo river in a tea garden in Sonari area in the district.

Sivsagar (Assam):Assam's Sivsagar district have detained three persons for their alleged involvement in a possible human sacrifice. Police said that the arrest is related to the missing and subsequent murder of a four-year-old girl. The child went missing since the night of August 8 and the police recovered the dead body from Silo river in a tea garden in Sonari area in the district. Police have also spotted remains of spiritual performance from near the body, leading the police to suspect it to be a case of human sacrifice.

"We have detained nine persons initially. Later, we have detained three of them for further interrogation. One among the three is the father of the victim. Initial investigation proves that there is signs of practice of witchcraft in the area," said a Senior Police official.

He said that it is too early to comment but preliminary investigation indicates that there is practice of witchcraft. "We have spotted remains of a ritual performance from near the body. The father of the girl who was detained is showing an indifferent attitude, which is uncommon. So we are interrogating him," said the officer.

"The girl was sleeping at her house and the father was also sleeping outside the home. The girl went missing on the night of August 8 and we recovered the body on the morning of August 9. We are investigating the matter," he said while adding that a probability of witchcraft cannot be ruled out.

Read: Assam's population control policy can be adopted by other States: Assam CM