Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh): Superstitious beliefs claimed the life of an innocent child as in the modern age superstitious beliefs are still prevalent. A couple strangled their nephew and later bludgeoned him to death because they had once dreamt that a huge wealth was hidden in their house and sacrificing a child could help them to retrieve that treasure.
On March 8, people were in shock and disbelief when police recovered a child's body hidden in a foodgrain storage container. Police recovered the body from Raghavpuri locality under Kotwali Police Station limits at Chitrakoot in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. Police probing the incident said 'black magic' and 'exorcism' led to the death of the child. "The child was brutally killed and the couple was waiting for the opportune moment to perform black magic. But, neighbours alerted the police when the foul smell started emanating from the house after some days. The accused were grilled by the police, who spilled the beans," said sources.
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The accused were the uncle and aunt of the deceased child. The child was staying close to his uncle's house and used to visit the place frequently. Ramprayag Raidas, the father of the nine-year-old child, lodged a missing complaint at Kotwali Police Station on February 8. Police didn't get any clue about the whereabouts of the child for at least four days. When the foul smell started coming out of the house of the accused, the police were on their toes, and later, they zeroed in on them. "The accused were arrested and sent to jail and the body was sent for post-mortem," said police.
Earlier, people of the locality resorted to protests blaming the police for their inability to crack the case.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Dhawal Jaiswal, said, "The minor boy, who was staying next door to his uncle's house used to visit the latter's place often. The minor boy's uncle Bhullu Verma and his wife Urmila had dreamt during the Diwali festival that huge wealth was kept in three containers were hidden in their house. Hence, sacrificing a minor boy and performing rituals at the place where the wealth was hidden would help them to retrieve the treasure. The couple strangled the boy and later bludgeoned him to death."
SP Dhawal appealed to people not to get carried away by superstitious beliefs and such incidents must be reported to the police immediately so that stringent action could be initiated against culprits.
