Girl found dead in Chitrakoot, human sacrifice suspected

Kanchania, daughter of Chipka Gupta, had gone missing on Wednesday morning.

After a frantic search, her relatives informed the police who later found the girl’s mutilated body in the nearby pond.

The cops also found vermillion, a lemon, half-burnt incense sticks and flowers near the body, suggesting that it could be a case of human sacrifice. The villagers alleged that a woman named Rania could be behind it, as she allegedly practised witchcraft.

At Rania’s house, the police found material that looked similar to those found near the girl’s body. Blood marks before deities were also spotted.

The police also recovered an axe from her house.

Family members of Rania, however, told the police that they had sacrificed a pig. But they failed to show its carcass.

The police then arrested the family members. The axe and blood samples have been sent for forensic tests.

Additional Superintendent of Police D P N Pandey, who visited the village, said, “It appears to be a case of witchcraft. The arrested persons are Rania, her son Kallu and his wife Nathia, another son Saddul and his wife Piyaria.”

Angry villagers demanded that the accused be stoned to death in the open.

About a decade ago, two village boys had mysteriously disappeared and later their mutilated bodies were found.

Then too, the villagers suspected Rania, but the police failed to find any evidence against her, said village pradhan Prayagraj Singh.