The Indian police took five suspects into custody over their role in conducting a human sacrifice after they found headless body of a woman at a local Hindu temple.
The discovery of the headless body of the woman shocked the investigators.
According to the Indian media reports, Shanti Shaw—a 64-year old woman—was decapitated with a machete four years ago when she visited the temple in Guwahati—a town in the north-east part of India.
The police launched operation after they found the body of Shaw earlier this year in January. They started investigation of the case and traced several suspects involved in the murder. Many of the suspects were still at large.
Diganta Barah, a police commissioner in Guwahati, said, “Five people were behind the idea of killing the woman,”.
He said that total 12 people took part in killing the woman.
The police officer claimed that Pradeep Pathak, 52, was the main person behind the killing by giving it a religious color to mark the anniversary of his brother’s death.
Barah said that the sacrifice would provide relief to the soul of his brother.
“Pathak and four others were taken into custody between March 25 and April 1,” said the police commissioner, adding that the remaining suspects would also be arrested soon.
The Indian media reported that total 103 cases were lodged over charges of human sacrifice in the country from 2014 to 2021 as per the National Crime Records Bureau. Such brutal killings are common in the tribal and remote areas.
It may be mentioned here that the police arrested two men over their alleged involvement in killing a six years old boy in the capital.
The culprits confessed in the police custody that they killed the boy as an offering to Shiva—Hindu god—to change their lives.
