A 4-year-old girl was found dead inside the house of a neighbour in Odisha's Sundergarh where her body was found confined in a tin box. The girl's family has alleged that the neighbours had kidnapped her to perform black magic rituals during which they also drank her blood and killed her.
The girl was found inside a tin box with injury marks and bloodstains on the neck and abdomen. The family rushed the child to a hospital where she was declared dead.
The heart-rending incident took place in Jhumka village under Farudih police limits in the tribal-dominated district of Sundergarh.
According to police sources, the 4-year-old daughter of Indermani Sadh was playing outside her house after coming out of an Anganwadi centre on Saturday. In the evening she went missing while she was playing outside.
Family members and villagers combed the entire village looking for the girl when they came across the house of Sankhya Rani Nath. The girl was found in a tin box in an unconscious state.
There were injury marks and bloodstains on the neck and abdomen of the child. The family rushed the girl to the hospital, where doctors declared her dead.
Soon tension gripped the village after news of the death spread like wildfire. The victim's mother claimed that those who had abducted the girl had not only killed her, but also drank her blood as part of some black magic ritual.
Police have deployed two-platoon forces in the area to diffuse tension and also detained Sanya Rani Nath for questioning.
Additional SP, Rabi Narayan Batik said, "The villagers have captured two people and we had to rescue them and take them in our custody. The investigation is on and we cannot say anything right now."
The accused Sankhya Rani Nath has said that she has no links with the death of the child and it was Naveen Saha, who is a co-accused, who must have killed the child and brought the body to the house.
Naveen Saha has also denied killing the child and said, "I don't know anything about this incident. My kids and my family members were also present at my house."
However, the victim's mother has said, "My daughter went missing and I looked for her everywhere. At last we found at her at Sankhya Rani Nath's house. She drank her blood and killed her."