Child sacrifice shocks Mangalore

A shocking incident of the obnoxious medieval practice of child sacrifice has come to light in Mangalore City.

A three-year-old girl child was allegedly sacrificed by a tantrik in Yeyyadi area of the city on Thursday. The ritualistic reasons behind the atrocity that agitated people in the city remained a matter of police investigation till late on Friday.

The child, identified as Priyanka, daughter of Kiran Kumar Jha and Anjali, both hailing from Bihar who have been living in the city for the last three years. Priyanka, according to locals, was last seen Thursday afternoon playing with her brothers Pankaj (6) and Neeraj (18 months) outside their house.

According to eyewitness accounts, one Chandralekha (28), a neighbour, called Priyanka to her house between 2.30 pm and 3 pm on Thursday. The girl child was never spotted thereafter. The parents searched for Priyanka in the evening and that led them to question Chandralekha about her whereabouts. Late in the evening, the distraught parents approached the police at the Kadri Police Station after Chandralekha insisted that the child had left her house a long time ago.

A police team launched a search, but failed to trace the girl. The police subsequently questioned Chandrakala.

On Friday morning, she confessed that her alleged step father Kamalaksha Purusha (72), a tantrik,  had strangulated the child on Thursday evening in a ritual, according to DCP Ramesh.  She later led the police to a plantation where the child’s body was found covered with leaves, about 300 metres from their house. The body was clad only in underwear. Her footware too was found nearby. As the news of the child sacrifice spread, a large number of people rushed to the spot and ransacked the tantrik’s house.

A few neighbours, including the tantrik’s brother Madhav Purusha (78) (in whose house Priyanka’s parents were living as tenants for the last three months) told Deccan Herald that they had warned Priyanka’s parents against sending their daughter to Kamalaksha’s house, suspecting his behaviour.

The neighbours also said Kamalaksha had a live-in relationship with a woman several years ago and Chandrakala was that woman’s daughter. Though Kamalaksha claims that Chandrakala is his step daughter, neighbours as well as police suspect that both have an illegitimate relationship. She, too, had a 5-year-old son, who was missing for the past five months. When queried, both Kamalaksha and Chandrakala said that her son had been adopted by a person in Udupi.

Meanwhile, when this corresondent spoke to Chandrakala, she alleged that Kamalaksha raped the child before she was offered as sacrifice. On the contrary, Kamalaksha continued to say that he has not seen the girl at all. “I can find out the whereabouts of the girl within three days,” he said. To a query on the poojas at his home, he said: “Yesterday was a good day for prayers and the prayers would help me get long life.”
Kamalaksha Purusha and Chandrakala have been arrested while Madhav Purusha has been taken into custody.

Later, a group of villagers went to the police station and asked the cops to hand over the accused to them. When police resorted to light caning to disperse the crowd, a few antisocial elements threw stones at the police station.