Tantrik beheads boy for ‘divine powers’

Raipur : A ‘tantrik’ who allegedly beheaded a 10-year-old boy to obtain “divine powers” has been arrested in yet another case of human sacrifice in Chhattisgarh, police said Thursday.

Dilip Rathia was arrested for the death of Praveen, who went missing Feb 5 and whose torso was found Feb 20 in Punjipathra in Raigarh district, Superintendent of Police Neha Pandey told reporters.

She said the accused confessed he killed the boy because a deity appeared in his dream and asked him to behead the boy to obtain “divine powers”.

Police have seized the sword used in the killing. The accused and the deceased family belong to the same village Barpali, some 250 km from state capital Raipur.

Chhattisgarh’s vast backward rural areas throw up human sacrifice cases now and then. A seven-year-old girl was “sacrificed” in Bijapur in December by two men who felt the killing would lead to better harvest.