Six-year-old died due to child sacrifice ritual, allege Odisha villagers

JEYPORE: The death case of a six-year-old girl due to slapping by her father in Taupadar of Pottangi has taken a new turn after villagers alleged that the minor was sacrificed for hidden treasure.

On Saturday, the villagers caught hold of a man accusing him of being a tantrik and handed him over to Pottangi police.

Soon after the girl’s father Bangaru Pangi and his associate Shyam Sundar Biswal were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody, the villagers reached the police station with the man and claimed that the six-year-old was sacrificed in hope of unearthing hidden treasure.

On November 21, the girl went missing from Taupadar and her father Pangi lodged a complaint with Pottangi police in this regard.

During investigation, police found Pangi’s behaviour to be suspicious. On being interrogated, the father admitted that he had slapped the girl for not studying following which she died.

Fearing police action, he along with Biswal buried his daughter’s body near Bhairab temple in Taupadar jungle.

Police exhumed the girl’s body on November 27 and sent it for postmortem. Pangi and his associate were later arrested. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Sunabeda Niranjan Behera, however, denied the child sacrifice angle in the girl’s death.

According to primary medical report, there is no indication of sacrifice. The villagers’ allegation is not true, he said.

“However, we have detained the man who was handed over to us by villagers and investigating his antecedents,” the SDPO added.