Hyderabad: In what is suspected to be a case of human sacrifice coinciding with the lunar eclipse earlier this week, the severed head of an infant was found on the terrace of a house in Chilkanagar in the Uppal area of Hyderabad.
The police has detained a father-son duo from the neighbourhood of the house where the head was found by the residents. The duo was being questioned by officials after the sniffer dog squad led police to their doorstep and human hairs were recovered from their dustbin.
The severed head was spotted by V Balalakshmi when she went to the terrace of her house to dry clothes. “I can never forget what I saw there. It is a nightmare for us. I don’t know who did it and why they chose our house to leave the head of a baby. Ever since that incident we have not been able to sleep or eat properly,” the 55-year-old said. The house is owned by Balalakshmi’s son, cab driver Rajasekhar.
The police have also questioned residents and other neighbours and have gathered footage from CCTV cameras in the area. A case of murder and causing disappearance of evidence was booked against the two arrested.
Deputy Commissioner of Police CR Umamaheshwar Sharma said the police were investigating the case from all angles, including the possibility of human sacrifice. “We have only found the head and search is on for the torso. We don’t have any complaint of missing child but trying to establish the identity of the baby,” he said, adding that the act was inhuman.
Police have sent the head for preservation at the Gandhi Hospital pending the investigation.
Those detained were identified as Narhari, who runs an electric workshop in the area and his son, who is suspected to be mentally disturbed.
