Jharkhand horror: Mother strangles daughter after ‘tantrik' told her to sacrifice ‘virgin girl’ to cure son's ailments

Police have arrested a 35-year-old woman in connection with the alleged ritual killing of her teenage daughter in Kusumbha village, along with an occult practitioner and another man, an officer said.

The occult practitioner had reportedly told the mother that a “virgin girl” needed to be sacrificed to “cure” her son of all ailments, according to PTI.

What happened?

Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Anjani Anjan said the mother had been frequently visiting a local ‘tantrik’ for treatment of her youngest son, who suffers from mental and physical health issues. He stated, “The occult practitioner told the mother that they needed to sacrifice a virgin girl to cure the son of all ailments.”

An officer said that on March 24, the night of Ashtami, when the village was engaged in Ram Navami celebrations and witnessing the Mangla Julus procession, the girl was allegedly strangled at Shanti Devi’s house by her mother and Bhim Ram.

Police alleged that the occult practitioner then carried out further acts as part of the ritual, while Bhim Ram struck the girl’s head to obtain blood. After the killing, the accused buried the body in a garden, the officer said.

Anjani Anjan added that the three later attempted to mislead investigators by claiming rape, but this was not supported by postmortem and forensic findings.

Bhim Ram is also accused in the alleged murders of his sister-in-law and another person, Anjani Anjan said.

Anjan and DIG Anjani Jha confirmed the arrests during a late-night press conference on Wednesday. According to police, those arrested include the girl’s mother Reshmi Devi, 55-year-old Shanti Devi, an alleged occultist, and 40-year-old Bhim Ram, all residents of the same village, according to PTI.

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of the alleged rape and murder of the girl in Bishnugarh, Hazaribagh, and issued notices to the state administration and the director general of police.

A division bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad took note of the incident based on media reports. Earlier, the girl’s mother had claimed that her daughter was abducted, and her body was later found in a field in the village on March 25.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a 12-hour bandh in Hazaribagh on Monday to protest the killing.

Woman alleges husband forced naked occult rituals

Meanwhile, in Kanpur, 25-year-old woman alleged that her husband and in-laws forced her to participate in occult rituals in a degrading manner, while also subjecting her to sexual abuse and prolonged physical and mental harassment, police said on Wednesday.

According to the FIR, the woman, a resident of Sachendi, married Kautuk Mishra, a jeweller from Pandu Nagar, on March 6, 2024.

Her family claimed that they provided a substantial dowry at the time of the marriage, including an SUV and gold and silver ornaments. However, the woman alleged that her in-laws continued to demand additional dowry, including a house, one kilogram of gold and cash.

In her complaint, she said she was repeatedly forced to take part in late-night occult rituals against her will, at times in a state of undress. She alleged that on one occasion, her husband and father-in-law forcibly undressed her to make her participate in such rituals.

She further claimed that she was physically assaulted and mentally harassed whenever she resisted.

The woman also accused her father-in-law of sexual misconduct, alleging that she was confined in a room with him and threatened with “tantra-mantra” if she refused to cooperate.

(With inputs from PTI)