Woman sacrifices son to appease god in Assam

Guwahati  :  Four people, including a woman, have been arrested in Assam’s Sivasagar district for their involvement in burning alive the woman’s infant boy to appease god, police said Tuesday.

The incident took place at Sonari Monday night, police said.

The woman, Ranju Devi, burnt alive one of her five-month-old twin sons, while the other members of her family were sleeping.

“Two brothers, Sunil Shah and Vijay Shah, both daily-wage earners, have been staying in Sonari for some time now. Their sister Ranju Devi and her husband Chhote Shah along with their three children — a three-year-old daughter and the twin sons — came to visit them from Darbhanga in Bihar a few days back and were staying with them,” police said.

A quack advised the woman to perform a puja and sacrifice one of her sons to god.

She was reportedly upset after having a dream that if she did not sacrifice one of her sons, both will die, residents told police Tuesday.

The woman confessed her crime.

Police later retrieved the body of the infant from a nearby jungle where it was buried after being burnt.

Police suspect the incident to be a fallout of superstitions and said the woman was mentally unstable.

The woman’s husband Chhote Shah and brother Sunil Shah were among those arrested, while the other brother Vijay Shah is absconding.