Nagpur: Parents kill minor daughter during 'black magic' ritual
A five-year-old girl allegedly lost her life in a black magic ceremony in Nagpur on Sunday. The parents performed the ritual to 'drive away evil forces' and allegedly beat her to death. The couple, who also runs a local news channel on Youtube, has been arrested by Maharashtra Police. In a video recording, the parents can be seen slapping and thrashing their daughter.
5-year-old tortured during ritual
The daughter was thrashed for days but finally succumbed on late Friday night, The Times of India reported. She was tortured by her father Siddharth Chimne (45), mother Ranjana (42), and aunt Priya Bansod (32) during a ritual, after which she collapsed on the ground and became unconscious. This is the first such incident in Nagpur city's Subhash Nagar Slums in a long time.
'Attempted to drive away evil spirit'
According to a senior police official, the family went to a dargah in Takalgath on Guru Purnima last month. While their elder daughter was fine, Chimne allegedly noticed behavioral changes in his younger daughter and thought she was influenced by 'evil spirits'. The parents then performed a ritual to drive away the said evil spirit after starving her for days.
Video recording shows parents thrashing their daughter
The family recorded a video of the ceremony which was later accessed by the police. According to officials, the video shows the parents asking her questions and beating her after she fails to respond. "The three accused slapped and thrashed the child severely," a police official told PTI. The police also noticed multiple injuries on the child's body.
Couple ran away from the hospital
The couple took her to a dargah on Saturday morning and then shifted her to a local hospital. Chimne and Ranjana then ran away, according to the police. A guard grew suspicious and captured the couple's car plates on his phone, and doctors at the hospital then alerted the police. Police nabbed the accused on the basis of their car's registration number.
What are the charges against the accused?
The three accused have been booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The case has also charged them under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
