KOLKATA: Four days after the human sacrifice of a woman in a betel leaf grove in a village in Purba Medinipur district of Bengal, the 42-year-old son of a grove owner was arrested from Kolkata for allegedly beheading the girl after strangulating her.
Confessing to the crime, the father-of-three Ramapada Manna said he was interested in tantric practices and had read in tantric books that human sacrifice would bring prosperity, wealth and control over spirits. He showed to police the places where threw the severed head and the knife, the crime weapon, sources said.
According to the Purba Medinipur police, Ramapada had met the victim woman at Mecheda station for the first time on October 14, and on the pretext of solving her family issues through tantricism, brought her to Gorkilla village, intoxicated her, then strangulated her and cut off her head. The severed head was thrown in a canal in neighbouring Uttar Oshudhpur village.
Police said Ramapada performed magic tricks in several rural fairs, which is where his interest for tantricism developed. Betel leaf grove owner and accused’s father Chandicharan Manna and other kin were taken into custody.