In a rare occult ritual, a Hindu priest killed himself in a Bihar village to appease the goddess, police said Wednesday.
Gopal Jha, a priest at the Chhinamastika temple in Teldih village in Banka district, slit his own throat.
"Jha ended his life after reciting verses two days ago," the dead man's brother Gobind Jha told police.
Police officer Wakil Manjhi told IANS on telephone that it was not a case of suicide but of "self sacrifice to appease the goddess".