Woman sacrificed to appease tribal god

RANCHI - A priest and three others have been arrested for allegedly sacrificing an old woman to appease a tribal god in Jharkhand’s Latehar district, police said.

Budhani Devi, 60, a resident of Khaira Jagir village, was abducted April 9 by Bhuneshwar Baiga, the priest, and his accomplices — Balram Mistry, Basuwa Oraon and Mahendra Singh.

“Prima facie, it appears the tribal priest instigated people to abduct Budhani and later she was sacrificed,” a police official from the district told IANS.

Budhani’s son Kundan Oraon, who set off to search for his mother, Wednesday found his mother’s clothings and bangles near a forest and enquired about her whereabouts from nearby villagers.

When he discovered that she had been sacrificed by the four men to appease a local tribal god, Pasa Gamhel, he immediately informed the police and the accused were arrested.

“Bhuneshwar has admitted that he killed my mother along with three other people to appease the god. We have handed over all four to police,” Kundan told reporters outside the police station Wednesday.

In Jharkhand, 11 cases of human sacrifices have been reported in the last seven years.