Jharkhand: Sorcerer advises tribal to sacrifice baby to get a child of his own
- Rumours of child lifters prowling in and around Jharkhand villages had been circulating for a month
- It led to the deaths of 7 innocent people
- Now a sorcerer advised a tribal man to kill a baby to have one of his own
FollowOn May 18, Jharkhand witnessed over 7 deaths just because of a WhatsApp rumour circulated as authentic news. The message was warning against child kidnappers. Amid that tension, in Jharkhand villages sorcery is rampant leading to the death of a six-month-old baby.
The rumours of child lifters prowling in and around the Jharkhand villages had been circulating for a month. The tribals had even brought it to the notice of the police but they did not bother to quell the rumours. Result was the tribals spooked out by the WhatsApp message warning them to be mindful of child lifters, took matter into their hands and ending up lynching suspicious strangers.
“...Suspected child lifters are carrying sedatives, injections, spray, cotton and small towels. They speak Hindi, Bangla and Malyali. If you happen to see any stranger near your house immediately inform local police as he could be a member of the child lifting gang. – This was the message that was being circulated on .
Also read: WhatsApp - The messenger which now promotes violence, instigates mobs, kills people
After the 7 deaths, and days of rioting in Jamshedpur and surrounding areas. . Four of those lynched were Muslims, and the community held protests and announced a bandh. The area is already prone to Hindu-Muslim skirmishes. Police vowed to find out the culprits behind the circulating WhatsApp message but there have been no leads yet.
Now according to a report in the Hindustan Times, just when the state was recovering from a spate of communal tension and horrible deaths, on May 25, a six-month-old baby was kidnapped, murdered and sacrificed under the Tiruldih police station limits.
Investigation revealed that the baby girl was sacrificed at a burning ghaat by a sorcerer to appease the gods on behalf of a childless couple.
The duo have been identified as Karmu Kalindi and Bhadohi Kalindi. Karmu, the sorcerer, kidnapped the daughter of his neighbours Subhash Gope and Parvati Gope to help Bhadohi, who is from a neighbouring village.
Tribals in the area still largely believe in superstitions and run to the sorcerer on the slightest pretext, who taking advantage of the villagers gullibility suggest ‘solutions’ like this. This situation could have turned into something much more uglier.
