Titlagarh: Despite strict laws to combat witch hunting, cases of human sacrifice continues unabated in rural pockets with another report from Titlagarh where a newborn allegedly sacrificed to the deities was found dead under a bridge, Friday.
The bone-chilling incident has been reported from Titlagarh-Bahidarpada bridge in Bolangir district where a newborn’s body was found lying near railway track near Titlagarh Railway Station yesterday.
The matter came to the fore after locals spotted the newborn’s mutilated body, wrapped in a blanket and alerted the cops. It is suspected to be a case of ‘child sacrifice’ as locals found some articles used as part of rituals in sorcery act near the body.
“Some children spotted the newborn’s body wrapped in a blanket lying under a bridge near a railway track Thursday morning and informed us. So, we rushed to the spot and found some articles, basically used for worshiping, just few metre away from the spot,” a local said.
Puja materials like loin cloth, incense sticks and voodoo doll were also found on the spot.
On receiving the information, the police reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy. As the body had already started decaying, the injury marks on the body were unclear.
The cause behind the death of the baby boy will be revealed after the postmortem, police said. This has spread panic among locals who refrained their children from going out after sunset.
“We are discussing the matter with the Kantabanji railway police and everything will be cleared after we receive the postmortem report,” said Bolangir railway police official Durga Charan Pradhan.
The incident came a few months after a headless body of a minor boy was recovered from a river near Sundhimunda village under Sindhekela police limits Oct 16 last year. The police cracked the murder and found it as a human sacrifice.
PNN
