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April 5, 2023 | 10:42 a.m
A woman was allegedly killed while visiting the Kamakhya Temple in 2019.
AFP via Getty Images
Indian police arrested five men in connection with a human sacrifice in a temple four years ago.
The decapitated remains of Shanti Chow, 64, were found on June 19, 2019, after she visited the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati during the Hindu Ambubashi Mela, Hindustan Times reported.
After years of no progress in the investigation, a house raid in Cooch Behar led to the arrest of Baba Ji, or Reverend Reverend Mata Prasad Pandey, on March 25.
According to the police, Pandey later admitted that Shaw was killed while he was participating in a worship ceremony at the temple on the night of June 18, 2019.
“After offering poojas at Bhootnath at midnight, everyone went to Kamakhya first and later went to cremation site near Bagala Mandir. They took the victim to Joy Durga Mandir and performed pujas and had alcohol and meat,” Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Barah told Hindustan Times on Tuesday. .
“The victim had no idea that the puja was being performed to be sacrificed later and was made to drink and eat as well.”
Each of the 12 participants in the puja was given 10,000 rupees, or about $122, by a man named Pradeep Pathak, who sponsored the event in honor of his late brother.
The Hindustan Times reported that Pathak was arrested at his home in Uttar Pradesh state on April 1.
Three ascetics – Suresh Paswan, Kanu Tantrik and Raju Baba – were also arrested.
“Raju Baba… told the woman to lie down. Then they grabbed her head, hands and legs and before she could move to flee someone took out a machete and cut off her head in the name of human sacrifice,” said Bhara of the moment when Shaw was killed.
Shaw’s body was allegedly left on a blanket on a staircase, where it was later discovered.
Her head was reportedly disposed of in the Brahmaputra River.
Barah said another 10 to 12 people, including two priests, are still wanted for their participation in the killing.
According to the Hindustan Times, India’s National Crime Records Bureau recorded 103 cases of alleged human sacrifice between 2014 and 2021.
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