by 2 Cylivers
Father sacrifices daughter in Hardoi, India
14 Aug 2007, 0250 hrs IST, TNN
LUCKNOW: Superstition drove a man hacked his daughter, Nirja (12), to death in the Usmanpur village of Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh state. He then proceeded to cut her up and throw severed body parts into burning logs at his house. A tantrik (an Indian voodoo practitioner) advised the man, Girja Dayal, a clerk with the Public Works Department, into taking this extreme step in order to be blessed with a son. Girja has four daughters.
The matter came to light when local villagers informed the police on Sunday night that Dayal's daughter Nirja was missing since August 9. Dayal's next-door neighbor told the police that he heard cries for help late at night on the 9th. "Later, there was a foul smell from Dayal's house," he said.
The police searched Dayal's house and detained him. He insisted that Nirja was missing and he had no knowledge about her wherabouts. When questioned about the foul smell, he said that he had performed rituals at home under the guidance of the tantric.
This heinous, senseless act came to light when the police questioned the tantric and his aide. Later, charred pieces of Nirja's body were recovered from a gunny bag dumped in a nearby ditch.
Dayal confessed he had four daughters and was desperate to beget a son. When the unfortunate sacrifice was performed, Nirja's mother Reshma, eldest sister Gurbinder and her husband Chedna were also present in the house. Police seized several items such as herbs and shrubs, ghee, incense sticks, etc. used for the sacrifice as evidence.
A case of premeditated murder has been registered and all the six accused - Nirja's parents, her eldest sister, her brother-in-law and the two tantriks, have been apprehended.
Comments
- pwright, Jun 11, 2008 at 08:51 PM PDT said:
Whaqt a horrendous crime!!
- mwatson, Aug 14, 2007 at 12:12 PM PDT said:
This is not much different from children sacrificed by Aztec civilization eons ago. The shocking part is that it happens in this day and this age. It was a "faith" then and it continues to be some kind of "faith" now. Mankind has progressed? Holistically No!
