Three men arrested for sacrificing 15-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh, India

Dubai: Three men in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh couldn’t find a pair of oxen for sacrifice, so they sacrificed a 15-year-old boy on the advice of an occultist. They were arrested on Wednesday, said a police official.

According to an article on the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times’ website, Akshay Kumar, station house officer of Asandra Police station, said: “A family of Tharupur village approached an occultist to get their children cured of mental illness around a month ago. He gave them a choice between animal and human sacrifice. The family chose to sacrifice Divakar Yadav, a boy of the same village, as they could not arrange a pair of oxen.”

According to Kumar, at least three children of the family reportedly have mental illness.

While the occultist is absconding, the suspects — Ramgopal, his mother Siyawati and their relative Ramshankar, who is afflicted with polio — have been charged with murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.