A nine-year-old boy was kidnapped and decapitated as part of a "human sacrifice" ritual in India's Dadra and Nagar Haveli district.
As reported by The Hindu, the child's body was found chopped into pieces, police said on Wednesday. Police arrested two men and detained a teenage boy last week after the headless body of the boy, belonging to a tribal community, was found in the Damanganga canal near Vapi town in Valsad district of neighbouring state of Gujarat.
Child Went Missing on Dec 29, Headless Body Found Matching Description
The boy went missing from Sayli village in the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district on December 29 last year, following which a case of kidnapping was registered at the Silvassa police station on December 30, police said in a release.
While multiple teams were looking for the boy, a headless body matching his description was found at Vapi. While the body was found in a canal in Vapi, parts of the body, suspected to be of the victim, were found in Sayli village where the ritual was performed, an official said. The body parts have been sent for forensic examination, he added.
Teams of police personnel from Daman and home guards analysed CCTV footages, and questioned residents in the village besides shopkeepers and industrial workers to gather leads. Mobile call records were analysed and areas near the village and the canal were searched.
"The investigation led the police to a juvenile. He revealed he had kidnapped the victim on December 29, 2022, from Sayli village and murdered him as a human sacrifice with the help of his accomplice," the police said, adding that they also recovered weapons used in the crime.
Human Sacrifice to Gain Monetary Benefits
The detained boy disclosed that his friend Shailesh Kohkera (28) had helped him in killing the victim, police said. "He said one Ramesh Sanwar was also part of the conspiracy. Sanwar prompted the detainee and Shailesh Kohkera to perform a human sacrifice ritual in the hope of gaining monetary benefits," the release said.
Subsequently, the accomplices Kohkera and Sanwar were traced and arrested on January 3.
