BARIPADA : A tribal couple allegedly tried to sacrifice their eight-year-old son as part of a witchcraft ritual at Chhotraypur village within Kaptipada police limits in Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday night.
The couple, Shiddhi Marandi and Phula Marandi, was caught by police from a forest in an inebriated condition on Wednesday.
Sources said the couple told their son that they were taking him to his uncle’s house at Chakradharpur. The boy became happy and went with his parents. However, the accused took him to Kukundarani, a secluded place located a few kilometre from Chhotraypur.
On reaching the spot, the couple started to perform some rituals. Father Shiddhi then brought out a knife and touched the boy’s neck with it. Subsequently, he put the knife at the place of worship and performed some more rituals.
On watching the turn of events, the child reportedly became terrified and ran away from the spot. On way, he met some villagers and narrated the entire incident. The villagers rushed to the spot with the boy but by then, the couple had fled.
Mithun Mohanty, one of the villagers who rescued the boy, said he along with his friends was sitting near a temple when the child came running towards them at around 9.30 pm. The minor told them that his parents wanted to kill him with a knife.
“We went to the spot but the child’s parents had disappeared. As it was too dark, we returned to the village and informed Kaptipada police,” Mohanty added.
Kaptipada IIC Pravanjan Behera said police caught the accused couple from a forest. Both of them were in an inebriated condition as they had consumed liquor the entire night.
“Police will interrogate them after they come to their senses and take action accordingly,” Behera added.