The body of an 18-month old baby was recovered from a well in Yadgir district of Karnataka, in what is suspected to be the result of black magic rituals.
Amruta was sleeping next to her mother in her residence in Shahapur taluk on Monday night, when she was kidnapped by unknown persons. Reports say that the parents of the girl were sleeping inside the house and the main door of the house was locked from the outside by the people who are believed to have taken the baby.
It was on Tuesday morning, that the girl’s family learnt that the baby was missing. However, as the main door to their house had been locked from the outside, neighbours rushed to the home on hearing their cries.
The Times of India reports that the baby’s father Bassayya Swamy and her mother stepped out of their home to find turmeric and kumkum along with split lemons, which are considered to be indicators of black magic. They then launched a search, only to find Amruta’s body in the well.
According to the police, the unknown persons are believed to have performed the ritual near their house. The report says that the baby may have been killed in a family’s hunt for treasure. The girl's grandfather was quoted as saying that black magic rituals weren't uncommon in the village.
The New Indian Express reports that a team led by Yadgir DSP has been formed to investigate the case, after Yadgir SP Vinayak Patil visited the place.
Black magic rituals are practiced in various parts of the state, for reasons including personal gains, property dispute, treasure hunting, child birth and even to get favourable results in examinations.
Cases of children being killed allegedly as a result of superstitious beliefs have been reported from a number of districts in Karnataka. In January 2015, a five-and-a-half-year-old girl child's body was found dead ten days after she went missing from Koppala district. A total of 14 accused including some villagers and a priest, who killed the girl child in a bid to hunt for treasures supposedly buried in the fields, had been arrested.
The News Minute had earlier reported that the accused were booked for abduction and murder, in the absence of an Anti-Superstition Bill.
Though the passing of The Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill was a promise given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when he assumed office in 2013, the bill is yet to be passed.