UP court pronounces death sentence for man convicted of 'sacrificing' 10-year-old cousin

Bahraich (UP), Jan 9 (PTI) A court here on Friday sentenced a man to death and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for killing his 10-year-old cousin as part of a human sacrifice ritual.

Additional District Government Counsel Sunil Kumar Jaiswal told PTI that the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunil Prasad convicted Anoop Verma of brutally murdering the boy, allegedly under the influence of a tantrik.

According to the prosecution, Verma, a resident of Parsa Agaiya village under Nanpara Kotwali area, had a two-year-old son who was mentally unwell.

Despite prolonged medical treatment, the child did not recover, following which Verma allegedly fell under the influence of the tantrik, who told him that sacrificing a child from the family would cure his son.

Jaiswal said on March 23, 2023, when other family members had gone to attend a 'mundan' ceremony, Verma was at home with his brother's 10-year-old son Vivek Verma.

He lured the boy to a nearby field on the pretext of buying him toffees and slit his throat with a spade. The body bore nine injury marks, he said.

A case was registered in this connection and Anoop Verma, Chintaram and the tantrik Jangli were named as accused. During questioning, Verma confessed to the crime and the murder weapon, an iron spade, was recovered on his instance, the government counsel said.

While the police filed a chargesheet against all three, the court acquitted the other two due to lack of evidence, he said, adding that the court held Anoop Verma guilty and sentenced him to death, besides imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh. PTI COR CDN ARB ARB