Childless couple ’sacrifice’ three-year-old to get son

LUCKNOW - A man and his wife have been arrested on charges of ’sacrificing’ a three-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanshiram Nagar district so that a son is born to them, police said Tuesday.

The childless couple beheaded their neighbour’s son Ompal Monday at a temple in Shahpur village in Kanshiram Nagar, 250 km from Lucknow. Ompal’s body was recovered late Monday.

“It’s a gruesome act of sacrifice. Ompal was found beheaded at a temple with one of his hands chopped into pieces,” police Inspector M.C. Gangwar told reporters.

According to police, the two were arrested Monday. “They admitted to have sacrificed Ompal on the directions of a self-proclaimed godman, who assured them that they will be blessed with a baby boy if they sacrificed a child,” he said. “Efforts are on to nab the godman,” Gangwar said.